TECHNICAL
.... Taib and his wife Puan Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib admiring the autonomous bots
designed by students at one of the exhibition booths set up at the Lundu
District Office. Seen behind Taib is Azmi.
By : JOHNSON K SAAI AND
GERYL OGILVY RUEKEITH
LUNDU: All land yet to be
granted to the people is state land, and the government never had any reason to
grab the people’s land. Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who said this yesterday,
said allegations by certain quarters that the government are land grabbers were
baseless.
He said what the government
had been doing all this while was helping the people develop their land for
their own benefit.
“As we all know, most
development starts from land, but, unfortunately, some quarters try to mislead
the people so that they will oppose these projects for fear that the government
will take away their land.
“Why should the government
grab people’s land when all the land that has yet to be granted to the people
belongs to the government?”
The chief minister said the
people must understand that most development projects required the opening up
of land.
“What we want our people to
fully understand is that if they want their area to be developed they have to
give their full support to the implementing agencies such as the district
offices and local authorities,” he said at the Lundu District Office’s 135th
anniversary celebration here yesterday.
He added that cooperation
between administrators and the people was vital for the development of any
area.
Taib said he was glad to
note that some leaders had begun to realise that cooperation was the key to
success.
For instance, he said, the
change taking place in Bau and Lundu had come about because of the cooperation
and support of Bidayuh leaders in these two places.
“The strong support given by
the Bidayuh leaders and their people towards the government’s development
programmes has enabled their idle land to be developed … many has been turned
into oil palm estates.
“The people in Lundu are now
no longer dependant on fishing as their major source of income. Many of them
are earning their living through other means, including involvement in agriculture
activities.”
Taib said the transformation
that had taken place here and in other parts of the state had been made
possible by the strong mandate given by the people.
“However, as time goes by,
the demand for greater mandate is now even more crucial. It is not for the
benefit of the government, but for the people as a whole.”
Among those present at the
event were Special Function Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office Tan Sri
Datuk Amar Adenan Satem, Infrastructure Development and Communication Minister
Dato Sri Michael Manyin, Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku
Jaafar and Lundu District Officer Azmi Bujang. (theborneopost)
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