SARAWAK’s row with Putrajaya, over who calls the shots in the matter of the village security and development committee, better known by its Malay initials JKKK, has come to an end, Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah said.

Uggah said the state and federal governments had agreed to revert to the old arrangement as practised during the time of the Barisan Nasional administration, which was that the federal government would continue to pay the allowance of the JKKK chairman while leaving it to the state to decide on the appointment of the committee members and their powers.

The previous Pakatan Harapan federal government had insisted that the committee be renamed and its members be selected by election.

In states not administered by PH, it was renamed Majlis Pengurusan Komuniti Kampung Perseketuan (MPKKP), or the federal village management committee.

PH said then that the JKKK members who were appointed were pro-BN and that the committee served as a political tool for the state government.

When Sarawak, then an opposition-ruled state, objected to the revamp, Putrajaya withheld the chairman’s allowance. Sarawak skipped round the freeze by taking over the payment.

The row escalated when PH said it would set up a mirror committee, leading the state government to accuse the federal government of trying to divide the villages along political lines.

As for the name change, Uggah today said that even the Perikatan Harapan government not get the state to agree to again alter the name of the committee.

The cabinet on July 8 agreed to rename the committee Jawatankuasa Pembangunan dan Keselamatan Kampung (JPKK) in the 10 PN-ruled states, including Sarawak, and Jawatankuasa Pembangunan dan Keselamatan Kampung Perseketuan (JPKKP) in four opposition-ruled states.

“PN wanted to change the name. We said no,” said Uggah today.

“Why should we change? The JKKK is an established system.”

He said JKKK was what the people in the state’s 7,000 villages were familiar with.

“We want them (the JKKK) to watch and be the eyes and ears of agencies like the police, anti-drug agencies and now the Health Department.”

Uggah said villagers along the Sarawak-Kalimantan border villages, for example, could look out for illegal immigrants and report them to the authorities if they encounter them. – August 7, 2020.