RETIRED DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang may have to ‘come out of his retirement’ for the betterment of Sabah and Sarawak judging by this latest challenge poser to himself:
“That if Pakatan Harapan (PH) wins the forthcoming 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19, I will set up a special office to promote the restoration of the rights of both states in accordance with Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63)”.
As it is, the 81-year-old veteran lawmaker claimed that is a great disgrace to Sabah and Malaysia that the state – even when it is blessed with so many resources – remains one of the poorest states in Malaysia.
“Poverty in Sabah is in double-digit figure,” he told a DAP ceramah in Tenom last night (Nov 15).
“Every Sabahan must ask why Sabah – one of the territories endowed with the richest natural resources like oil, gas, timber and fertile soil – should end up as the poorest territory in the country six decades after the formation of Malaysia”.
The incumbent MP of Iskandar Puteri – who has since passed his baton to Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong to defend his constituency – attributed the current state of Sabah to years of corruption, abuses of power and absence of good governance.
This has eventually depleted the state’s rich resources over the past six decades to the extent that its poverty rate has climbed, turning Sabah from being one of the richest states in the country to having a poverty rate which is below the national poverty line.
“Before Malaysia was formed in 1963, delegation from delegation of representatives from Sabah and Sarawak visited Peninsular Malaysia to see the progress and infrastructural development in Peninsular Malaysia,” he reminisced.
“Sabahans and Sarawakians were promised before Malaysia was formed in 1963 that if Sabah and Sarawak joined in the formation of Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak will enjoy the progress and infrastructure development in the country.
“Almost six decades have passed, but Sabahans and Sarawakians are still as poor as ever, and even the three pledges in Keningau Batu Sumpah to uphold the three pledges of Ugama bebas dalam Sabah (religious freedom in Sabah), Tanah-Tanah dalam Sabah dikuasai oleh Kerajaan Sabah (Land in Sabah under the control of the Sabah state government) and Adat Istiadat anak rakyat Sabah dihormatkan dan dipelihara oleh Kerajaan (Government will preserve every ritual of Sabahans) had been neglected.”
Fast forward to today, Kit Siang said even the much-talked-about Pan-Borneo Highway has not been completed 60 years after the formation of Malaysia.
“Only in one thing that Sabah can the match with Federal Government – corruption is as rampant in ‘Sabah as in Kuala Lumpur. This is a curse which must be eradicated,” he insisted.
“One of the first tasks of my special office for the restoration of rights of Sabah in accordance with MA63 will be on the Keningau Batu Sumpah – the extent the three pledges had been honoured in the past 60 years.” – Nov 16, 2022
Main pic credit: Daily Express
