Awang Tengah presenting a TOL to a recipient in Lawas.
KUCHING (Mar 2): The state’s northernmost districts of Limbang and Lawas will begin to receive their supply of Covid-19 vaccine this weekend, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan today.
The Bukit Sari assemblyman thus urged the people in both districts to register themselves for the jabs under the Sarawak Covid-19 vaccination programme.
Awang Tengah himself was one of the first few people, including Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, who were vaccinated last Friday at Petra Jaya Health Clinic in Kuching.
This was after the first 23,400 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was received in Sarawak last Wednesday, and the state is scheduled to receive more doses this month.
The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is administered in two doses three weeks or 21 days apart.
“I have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Under the first phase of the programme, the frontliners will be vaccinated first. The vaccines will arrive in Limbang and Lawas on March 6 and 7.
“I call on everyone to register to receive the vaccine. Do not fear it. This is to protect ourselves, our family and others.
“You can register through MySejahtera app, or do it manually with the help of relevant government departments and through your village chiefs and community leaders. Do not waste this opportunity, since all the costs are borne by the government,” he said in a statement today.
The statement also said Awang Tengah was in Lawas to hand over temporary occupation licences (TOLs) and presentation of land compensation to villagers.
A total 167 people received TOLs to occupy land at Banting resettlement scheme Phase IV and Punang village expansion scheme Phase II.
Meanwhile, land compensations totalling RM668,225.40 were presented to 18 recipients whose lands were acquired for the construction of a road from Punang to Kampung Sungai Bangat.
The Land and Survey Department’s office in Lawas was also officially declared open at the same function.
Awang Tengah, who is also Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, said at the hand over that the TOL premium for residential lot had been reduced to RM2,500 which can be paid in installments for the convenience of the low income group.
However, he warned TOL owners not to enter into transactions involving the TOL for financial gains.
On the land compensation, he said the amount given out had been calculated based on appropriate methods including the current value of the land.
He said the road from Punang to Kampung Sungai Bangat being built by the Northern Region Development Agency (NRDA), cost RM7.8 million.
He added that the R1 Standard road measuring 2.5 km was expected to spur economic growth in that area.
As for the Lawas’ Land and Survey office, he said it would make it convenient for the people there as they no longer had to travel all the way to Limbang for land-related matters.
Also present were Deputy Rural Development Minister and Lawas MP Datuk Henry Sum Agong, Batu Danau assemblyman Paulus Paulu Gumbang and senior government officers.
ENDS with pix (kch-bp020321-sa-tengahs-p1)
Awang Tengah (first left) hands over a TOL to a recipient