UMNO’S MAIDEN ADVENTURE IN SABAH

BY :  MOHD  JEFRI RADIUS  

WHAT  is the  least known  but  important  achievement  in Sabah ‘s  political  history? No  one could  deny  the fact  that  Sabah  has  emerged as  the  only  State  in the  country  with  a  record of  12  Chief Ministers  since the  dawn of  independence  including  those  appointed  for the  post  under  the    two–year rotation.

At that time,  a  Chief Minister  was chosen  and  appointed  from among  the  ruling  BN component  parties  in Sabah  with the  blessing of  the  Head of State, to represent the   Muslim  Bumiputera,  Non-Muslim  Bumiputera and  the  Chinese  communities  to  incorporate a  combination of  power sharing   for the  sake  of  uniting  Sabahans  regardless  of  race, creed  and  social  belief etc. which  was  gradually  abolished  in 2004.

Former  premier   Tun Dr  Mahathir Mohamed  was  behind  the  whole concept  of imposing   the system, which coincided with  Umno’s  maiden  adventure  to  spread  its  wings   into  Sabah.

Dr Mahathir  played  a  strategic  game of  political chess   by moving his pieces  across  the  board  using the  '“Divide  and  Rule  Strategy' to checkmate  and  put an end  to PBS glory and ego.

Dr . Mahathir was  not  politically  aware of the  socio-economic  implication and the  consequential  results   of  the  administrative  concept, which  he introduced  in Sabah  politics  did  have  some  adverse  effect  on  the  people  of Sabah  to some extend.

Historically, substantial sum  of   funds  had been  allocated   to the  State  since  the  First  Malaysia  Plan  was  implemented . What was the  actual  amount  spent so far?  RM  100  Billion?  It could  be more. Whatever  the  total allocated  funds spent,  there  is no doubt that  that  'Hidden Hands'  were also   at play  in controlling   and managing these funds.

Therefore, it  comes  as no big  surprise to see  projects  completed, but not   meeting the  specifications, including those left  uncompleted  and abandoned for several years  at the  expenses of  tax payers  money.

We  expect  the  Auditor General  will  act more  without  fear and favour  neither  compromise in his  duty , to  prompt   the  Malaysian  Anti  Corruption Commission  (MACC)  which will  subsequently  probe  deeply into  discrepancies  in the relevant   Ministries  which  received  the  funds.  

It  is  agreeable that   the  Government’s   commitment  to  fully  fulfill   a  Nation building  destiny  could  not be  achieved  overnight.  A number of   significant   factors  need  to be  considered  which  include  planning, formulating,  feasibility  studies, schedules of projects  implementation  and  of course  the  delivery system   etc  just to  mention  a few.    

In  Malaysia,  both  State  and  Federal  Government   play   the  equal  roles together    towards achieving   this  primary  objective   based  on the  availability  of  budgets  allocated to the  relevant   ministries  in question.

Rural  development  happened at  a  slow pace due to  bureaucratic factors, the common known stumbling block, thus affecting the livelihood  of most  rural  indigenous  groups   including   the Muruts, who dominated  the  Interior  Residency  and the  Rungus, who live  in the  Northern Region of the  State, where  poverty   has turned  its  ugly  head against  these  rural  indigenous, who  are  still  depending  on the government of the  day  to  further  improve their standard  of living.  Apparently,   the  primary  aim at   eliminating   poverty  is not the  task of the   State  Government  alone.

The  Federal  Ministry of  Rural  and Regional  Development  under  Datuk  Seri  Mohd Safie  Afdal  is  vested  with   similar  roles as well   to achieve  this parallel objective. The  fact  is  The  Ministry  has a wider scope   in view  of  its   huge allocation   of  RM 16 Billion  approved by Parliament  last  year   to be fairly channeled  for rural development  nationwide  within three  years  with  effect from  year   2011    to   2013.

Majority of  these rural   folks   depend  on   subsistence   farming  carried out on small plots of lands. Most  villages  occupied by  the hardcore  poor  in the  State  do not   have electricity  or piped water. They relied  on kerosene  lamps  when  night  falls   and  gravity water  for  their  source  of drinking  water which  would  get  murky   during  rainy  season.

The  non–existence  of  basic amenities  in  most rural  region of the  State, reflects  the  government  indifference towards  improving  the  the  quality of the  rural folks.

The crystal clear  rivers   which were once   the  source of   clean  drinking  water  for the Muruts  in the  Interior Residency  for  example, have now become a thing of the  past.

The  conventional  actions  of  Land  Clearing  for oil palm plantation and logging  to  extract  timbers  within  the  vicinity  of  water  catchments  area,   had badly polluted the  rivers. The quality  of   the river water   in question is no longer  safe  for drinking , it is awfully murky and  terribly dirty.

Retrospectively, on April  19th 2010,  TV3  showed  an aerial  video footage of the  milky and  polluted  Pensiangan River  as  a result of  rampant  logging  is  a case in point.

Ecologically, it  may possibly  take a cycle  of  another 100  years  or even  more  before  the  natural   purity   of  the  rivers  could be  fully  restored.    

The  Trans Pegalan  Villages  comprising   Kpg  Sedomon, Kpg Mailo  and  Kpg  Pantai Baru, which  share   common and  bad  feeder  road  that  had not been  upgraded  for ages  linking  with  the  main  road  at  Kpg Marasak  leading  to    Keningau  Town   25  km  apart   is  another  example.

These  villages  are located  within N.37  Sook  State  Constituency  and P.182  Keningau Parliamentary constituency  respectively. Before re-delineation or readjustment  of the  electoral  boundaries, the  villages  in question  were predominantly  inhabited  by   the  KDM  communitities and  part of the  Keningau  Parliamentary  Constituency  for  many years;  but   the  longstanding  problem  of getting   clean  drinking  water  for these  villages  seemed  to have  been ignored  or overlooked  by  the  elected  YBs, despite  several changes  of State government  since  independence.

Whether  the  current   YBs  representing  the  constituencies, both  from PBRS, a BN  component  are aware  of the people predicament  and what they have done  for them since the  last  election would  be interesting to know.

Columnist  Tan Sri  Datuk  Seri  Dr  Herman  Luping has brought  to light  a clear relevant  message  in a  couple  of  paragraphs of  his  article  “An ad campaign  will  be timely ” which  reads,  “ The  question, however, is whether our elected representatives, Assemblymen or  Members of  Parliament  are or have been  doing their duties  in their respective  constituencies..... Have  they been seeing or visiting  their  constituencies  and see  whether the  people’s  needs in the  constituencies  have  been met or granted. Many  of the  problems in the  various  constituencies  are the  unrepaired  road network  in the  villages” (D.E  May 27th May 2012)

The  fact  is  CM  Musa  had   repetitively  directed  all  BN State  representatives   to  go  to the ground  (Turun  Padang)  to get  the messages  across   the  board  (Rakyats)   on   the  substantial  sum  of   allocations granted  by  the Federal  government  to the  State   for  economic  and  infrastructural development, simultaneously  to  render  the  necessary   assistance  wherever  possible  sought  by the  Rakyats.

It sound rather hilarious If  our  elected  representatives  have deliberately  turned   their  deaf ears and  blind eyes  on  relevant  matters  of  public  interest  within  their respective  constituencies, as  this  would  likely  affect  BN  chances  of retaining  the  seats  in question  in the  coming  poll, when  people  are smart enough  to interpret  the  wisdom of  Abraham  Lincon which says “You can  fool some of the  people some of the  time, but you can not  fool  most of the  people  most of the  time."

We  hope  those  paradoxical   scenarios   would  not   affect    CM  Musa ‘s   ambitious  visions and missions   to  turn  Sabah, The  Land Below The  Wind   into  a  developed  State  by 2015  from  becoming  a reality,  by  virtue  of  his  statement  made  during  the presentation  of the  2009  Budget  of  RM 2.778 Billion  for  the subsequent year;

“We  have targeted   year  2015   to make Sabah a  developed  State  , looking  forward  to bringing  improvement  and betterment  to the  people, the Government is  committed  to meet financial  obligations  either  by internal  means  through the  strong  financial  standing   or outsourcing  for more  Federal  Fund.“ (D.E   15th  November  2008)

Currently, the  development  of  Oil and Gas  sector  is  progressing   on large  scale  basis in Kimanis.  BN  State  Government  has  created   a  conductive  investment climates  which  has  in turn  successfully  attracted   several  foreign  investors  into the State  in  a number  of    economic  sectors.

Lately in march,  an established  Fortune 500  firm  Darden  Incorporated  from the  U.S  had  invested   RM  2 Billion project   into   cluster  farming  (red lobster)   in Semporna.

Malaysians  in  Sabah are  looking forward eagerly to the  effort  made by the government of the day  in pursuit of the  developed  State’s  Status  Quo. Perhaps, it is worth  considering  a  second  look  in matters  relevant to  the General  Implementation  of   Infrastructural  Development  especially  within  the  rural  zones.

a)The methodology of implementation and delivery system must be conducted  authentically   and  transparently.

b)The  allocated  development funds must be well  managed, utilized, distributed  and monitored  to serve  its  purposes  by a reliable  appointed agency  represented  by  both Federal and State Governments. The special  funds allocated  to each  MP  (RM  One  Million)  and State  Assemblymen  (RM 400,000)  granted  under the  9th Malaysian Plan  respectively  are no  exception.

c)Technical  men comprising  engineers  (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical & Structural etc)  must  be assigned  to conduct  regular  physical inspections  to evaluate  the  progress  of  every government  project  from the  initial start up  until  completion stages  in both rural  and urban  constituencies, to ensure that  the  construction matches with the required  specifications etc.

d)Payments  of claims  made  by the  respective  contractors  must  be based   upon the  official  verifications made   by these  technical men.  

e) The system of awarding  contracts  by  the  process  of special  favour  consideration    or 'Closed  Door' negotiated  tender to corporate  bodies  or individuals, who lacked  the  experience and financial  capacity, despite  their affiliation  with the ruling  party  or blessing  from their political masters, must be reviewed  and should not be encouraged.

The  remaining  three  years  will  soon  elapse  in the  year  2015  and  will  be cut short  with an interval as speculation is rife now that  the dissolution of  the  current  parliament  will  take place  any time  although  its  term will  only end  on April 24, 2013; to pave  the way for the  13th General  Election  widely termed nowadays  by  many  as  The Mother of  All  Elections, to seek fresh mandate from the  people  including   Malaysians  in Sabah.

Pragmatically,  the  RM 4.05  Billion  of  State’s  2012  Budget unveiled by  CM  Musa  recently was well lauded  by many sectors, giving  positive  impression  that his inspiring  leadership  has  been instrumental in placing Sabah among the best financially  managed  States  tagged   with the  Triple  A  rating  in the  country.

Over  the years  the  people  of Sabah  have been seen the  numbers of  CMs, Members of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblymen  changing  hand one after the other  including  those representing  constituencies, where the poor natives  dominate.

It  is only  fair that  those  who have served  the community well  during their  terms of office be  allowed  to continue serving longer  with the  people  supports, but  not those  who have been there  for years, but did nothing   or little  other than to show their egos   with their  YB tags.

These  politicians  should  be replaced  or rejected  at once, irrespective  of whether  they are  aligned with  the  ruling  coalition  or  the  opposition, to  make way for  several   new  faces  having the potential  and meeting the  criteria  as  the  winnable  candidates  with  the support  of the  people  within  their  respective home  ground  constituencies. 

People  are  now fully  matured  with the wisdom  to judge  the backgrounds and credibility  of leaders, who come in search of  political pleasure  either  in the  broad day light  or after sun set.

The  people  are  the  best  judges  to determine  the  leaders, whom  they  think  have  the  credibility   with  the   proven records of such  achievements,  to  lead  the  State  and bring  more   robust  economic  growth  for the State    in the  years ahead.

We Malaysian  in Sabah  expect  nothing  other than   to see  that   the  State   would  benefit  from  the  Golden Fruits  of  its  49 years  of  Independence via  the Federation of  Malaysia, whoever  takes  the  helm of   the  State  Administration  after  the  13th  GE.

It will be a memorable  moment  and  significant   political history  for every Malaysian  in Sabah  to be proud  of  in the  event that, this outstanding  Visions and  Missions  could  be achieved  successfully  and turned  into reality  one day.