PBB expected to field new face in Katibas

Lidam Assam

KAPIT (Nov 26): A new face Lidam Assam from PBB has emerged as the likely candidate in Katibas constituency for the upcoming state election.

Incumbent and veteran politician Dato Sri Ambrose Blikau Enturan is expected to give way to younger blood for the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) ticket.

Katibas, Pelagus and Bukit Goram are the three state constituencies under Kapit Parliament constituency of which Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi, Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, is the MP.

In the 2016 state election, Ambrose polled 4,681 votes to win the seat with a comfortable majority of 3,052 over his sole opponent Paren Nyawi of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) who garnered 1628 votes.

Lidam, who is political secretary to the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, is the rising star from the PBB Song Division.

He studied for an MBA at Heriot-Watt University in 1999 and was the former marketing manager of Petronas Carigali and Petronas Perdagangan and former councilor in the Sibu Municipal Council.

He is expected to face the candidate for Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Robertson Mawa. Robertson was formerly the headmaster of SK Cardinal Vough in Song.

Robertson Mawa

The former deputy chairman PBB N62 Katibas had also served two terms as political secretary to the Chief Minister of Sarawak.

PSB’s ‘key man’ in Katibas has been actively moving on the ground since the PSB branch was established in Song.

Katibas is lagging behind in infrastructure and amenities in terms of roads, piped water supply and reliable electricity supply.

Many rural longhouses especially along Katibas River and Rajang River (from Sungai Melipis to Ngemah) are only accessible by river transport which is costly, time consuming and inconvenient.

The electorate comprised a majority of Ibans with the Chinese and Malay minorities concentrated at Song Bazaar.

The Ibans, who inhabit the rural longhouses, are farmers. Agriculture is not well developed. In recent years, under state government initiatives, oil-palm has been introduced and idle land has opened up for the farmers to plant cash crops like rubber, coffee and durians.

According to community leader Penghulu Lim Eng Hock, Lidam is the right choice of PBB to defend the seat. The likely candidate has been actively involved in various non-governmental organisations in Song.

Penghulu Lim Eng Hock

As political secretary to the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, he has represented Nanta to travel the length and width of Katibas for functions and meet the people during ‘Leader and People Gathering’ sessions.

The PBB Supreme Council member is a local and a familiar face among the Song folk.

Lim opined that the time has come for the government to provide more facilities to serve the people in Song. He mentioned, among others, a commercial bank, petrol station and road connectivity to link the rural longhouses to the town.

He said it is high time for commercial farming to be further promoted to generate income for the local folk.

There is limited economic activity in Song as youngsters have been moving out to seek employment in Kuching, Bintulu, Miri and West Malaysia.

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