Despite the govt’s effort, there is still a wide gap between rural and urban areas especially in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Sabah and Sarawak
by AZALEA AZUAR
THE Rural Development Policy 2023 (DPLB) has been facing significant challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic and political turmoil, with real achievement expected only in 2024.
Noma SWO Consult associate partner Nik Zafri Abdul Majid said the policy’s hindrances have potentially resulted in a loss of at least two years of opportunity to implement it systematically.
The economy’s main contributors during the two years are online businesses, slow recovery of the tourism industry and the sudden surge in food and goods delivery business.
“Unfortunately, the two factors mentioned above cannot become benchmarks for the DPLB achievement.
“The surge in telecommunication business was due to the work-from-home (WFH) policy, while the tourism industry may also involve rural areas such as revival of homestays and chalets and interest in purchasing rural products such as handicrafts and food,” he told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR).
Meanwhile, the government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been reimplementing the DPLB by addressing issues such as rural youth migration, infrastructure and technology shortages, electrical supply and treated water, uncovered rural areas and flood risk.
Nik Zafri said urban residents returning to rural areas due to high living costs, primarily pensioners, may struggle to contribute their skills and experience due to financial constraints.
“The failure in rural investment such as establishing the manufacturing industry is due to lack of electric supply and treated water.
“This has also created very limited job opportunities there which caused the migration of rural youths to urban areas,” he added.
The DPLB was launched in 2019 and outlines three principles for rural development: Sustainability, inclusiveness and holistic approach.
The policy aligns with existing policies like the National Rural Physical Planning Policy 2030.
The initiative was launched by former Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun who aimed to provide treated water and electricity to 99% of rural populations by 2030.
The plan includes 10 cores, 33 policy statements and 88 strategies, including a competitive economy, entrepreneurship, quality human capital, infrastructure, rural youth and women empowerment.
Urban-rural Disparity
Despite the government’s effort, Nik Zafri observed that there is still a wide gap between rural and urban areas especially in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Sabah and Sarawak where the GDP is still the lowest.
These issues have been attributed to government-linked water supply companies struggling with effective management due to political and financial issues, repeated flood disasters requiring better mitigation and lack of treated water facilities.
Hence, Nik Zafri hoped that the current government would implement proper governance policies, conduct periodic assessments by third parties for impartiality, publicise results for improvement and reduce political appointments.
“The Finance Ministry (MoF) has allocated billions of ringgit to ensure proper flood mitigation is taking place. However, there should be some control on development of flood-prone areas,” he said.
Nik Zafri also suggested that the budget should be allocated towards building more treated water facilities, refining seawater reverse osmosis or desalination technology for industrial and public benefit, and replacing old underground piping, following Selangor’s proven long-term success.
Since 2001, the Rural Development Ministry and Communications Ministry has been implementing Internet access infrastructure programmes in rural areas.
However, three problems have been identified which are the lack of interest from rural youths, lack of skilled manpower to teach information and communications technology (ICT) literacy skills, and increased reluctance from rural people to participate in these initiatives.
Therefore, Nik Zafri suggested providing suitable income for rural Internet centre (PID) trainers, establishing skilled centres in rural areas with affordable ICT technology and promoting self-taught ICT literacy skills for mobile and smartphone users.
“Students and teachers should also play bigger roles in helping the rural community by starting with their own family members.
“To do this, subsidised or affordable laptops or PCs, including more affordable 5G Internet access, should be provided and not merely depending on free wi-fi or subscription of phone-based Internet plans,” he said.
Connectivity Still Lacking
The Asli Co co-founder Lim Xin Yu said Internet and connectivity in rural areas need to be improved to allow ICT literacy.
“Many villages have bad mobile data connectivity which makes it tough for students to study online.
“Affordability of laptops and devices is also a key issue that hinders ICT literacy among Orang Asli,” she added.
The Asli Co is a social enterprise which focuses on empowering the livelihoods of Orang Asli communities.
It collaborates with 42 mothers from seven Orang Asli villages in Selangor, Perak and Pahang, who are producing over 10 different products, such as lavender eye pillow, hand sanitiser and hand-made “kuih” soap.
Increasing Job Opportunities
Sunway University Business School economics professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng calls for reducing the urban-rural divide gap by raising the income level and standard of living, despite the challenges involved.
Currently, the economy in the rural areas is related to natural resources such as agriculture and fishing in which the productivity is low.
“To accelerate the development, we must enhance the deployment of technology to raise productivity, and the efficiency of more intensive use of the land to increase the different yields and productivity of the various crops,” he explained.
Yeah shared that some rural areas in Sabah, Sarawak and the East Coast require road development policy.
“To reduce the urban-rural divide, one key aspect would be to ensure that there are job opportunities which can be created in the rural areas, which is more difficult because generally industries and businesses tend to be concentrated in the urban areas,” he added.
Therefore, it is crucial to identify suitable areas in the rural areas to concentrate on growth and expansion of industries.
Yeah believed that communications and digitalisation can reduce the divides, as e-commerce activities can be conducted in a borderless world, allowing activities to be conducted regardless of location.
However, advanced facilities, particularly in telecommunications and Internet infrastructure, are needed for successful operation.
He said more than 70% of the population are currently living in urban areas.
“The rural population has declined. It used to be around 70% in the 1960s. Now it has declined to less than 30%,” he said.
Rural Development Programmes
Programmes that have been introduced by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry (KKDW) are the Rural Electricity Supply Programme (BELB), Village Street Light Programme (LJK), Rural Water Supply Programme (BALB), Rural Road Programme (JALB), Rural Connectivity Programme (JPD) and Social Amenities Programme (PAMS).
Sabah aims for 99.9% rural electricity coverage by 2025 through BELB.
On the other hand, the ministry and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) have installed 29,487 lighting units in Peninsular Malaysia, including high-pressure sodium vapour (HPSV) and LED lights, with an allocation of RM32.1 million.
The government has also implemented the Hardcore Poor Housing Programme (PPRT) to decrease rural poverty and enhance the quality of life for rural communities.
Earlier this year, KKDW identified four main focus areas to enhance rural development, namely infrastructure, human capital, entrepreneurial and economic programmes, with a task force to ensure effective implementation.
- This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition
