The Rural Development Ministry came under fire from a Barisan Nasional member of parliament today for not knowing which rural areas lack good roads, electricity and piped water supply.

Madius Tangau (BN-Tuaran) had asked for the details in the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

He also wanted to know if the government has plans to eradicate the problems by 2004.

Parliamentary secretary Rohani Abdul Karim, in her reply, told Madius that the ministry did not have the statistics as it relies on the state government to provide these information.

Madius in his supplementary question blasted the ministry for not making any effort to collect the data required.

"It's peculiar for the ministry not to have such data on hand. They're important information...how can the ministry not know which kampung (village) do not have electricity? How then can the government implement the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English?" he asked.

All schools will standardise in using English as the medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics subjects from next year. Primary school teachers will be provided with laptops, courseware and LCD projectors as education aids to enable a smooth transition in the switch in language.

Budget allocation

Madius also said such data was important for the federal government to decide on its budget for each state.

"The budget allocated for the ministry should first be used to build roads and provide electricity for all these rural areas...it is not only to repair city roads with pot-holes. We've had independence for more than 40 years, yet some areas in the country still do not have electricity," he lamented.

Responding to this, Rohani said the ministry had asked the authorities in each state for the data but had not gotten any reply.

"It is also up to the state government to propose any projects (to provide electricity or build roads) that they wish to the ministry," she said.

System boosts

She said the ministry had to set up 'village information system' and 'village facilities inventory system' to collect all these information itself to gauge the type of projects needed in the rural areas.

She said the system will first focus on 5,244 villages in West Malaysia.

"This issue should be a collective responsibility of all, and not just the ministry only. Like, the lack of schools in rural areas rest with the Education Ministry, lack of communication facilities lies with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment," she said.

She told Madius that it would also be helpful for the member of parliament concerned to collate the data and raise the issues of underdevelopment in their constituencies to the ministry.