Kota Kinabalu: Kuala Lumpur will be making a grave mistake to brand Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders frogs just because they are demanding what Malaysians in the State had been asking for all this while, said veteran politician Datuk John Ghani, Friday.
The former Independent Assemblyman for Kuala Penyu said recent developments where MPs and political leaders from Sabah had been more open and vociferous in voicing out issues that affect the State was not surprising based on the present political scenario.
“Don’t make a mistake by concluding that Sabah leaders are those who simply like to switch parties. What they are saying is the reality in the State, which they have been unable to voice out for quite a long time.
“It is quite disappointing to hear leaders in Kuala Lumpur saying Sabahans have no stand. This is not the case,” said John, one of those instrumental in helping Umno spread its wings to Sabah in 1994.
During the early days of Umno in Sabah, John had held the post of Sabah Umno deputy liaison chairman.
His experience in the 2004 General Election to win the Kuala Penyu state seat as an Independent candidate after resigning from Umno to contest against the BN showed the people would never hesitate to make the change if the Government continued to ignore their voices.
“Their (Sabah leaders) actions should be praised because this is the only way they can get the Federal Government to take Sabah seriously. The issues were also raised many times in the State Assembly,” he said.
Speaking to reporters here, John said accusing Sabah leaders as frogs was tantamount to accusing the people of Sabah as having no principles.
He concurred with leaders like Datuk Yong Teck Lee that there was no assurance if the Federal Government would do anything to meet Sabah’s demands.
In fact, John said Kuala Lumpur should make Sabah as a model, which despite being the “poorest” state in the country remained as the BN stronghold.
“In peninsula they lost five states among them Selangor and Penang, which are the most developed in the country,” he said.
Among the issues raised, he said, was for the Prime Minister to hold a Cabinet re-shuffle to give Sabah better Federal ministerial representation.
He believed Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi overlooked the fact that during the Usno era in the 1970s a Sabah leader, Tan Sri Ghani Gilong, was appointed Minister of Public Works and Transport, an important portfolio for the country.
“Between then and now, surely we have more educated and capable leaders from Sabah able to hold important portfolios but not given the opportunity,” he said.
Another issue, John said was the illegal immigrants that continue to be unabated despite many calls by the leaders from the State for the Federal Government to find a concrete solution.
“Instead, the Government is opening up more temporary detention centres using the people’s money. We also want the IMM13 documents to be revoked and the so-called refugees sent back,” he said.
He added that if the Government cannot resolve the problems, development programmes like the mega Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) would be meaningless as far as Sabahans are concerned.
“Ten years from now the SDC might not be benefiting our future generations but the illegals who obtained citizenship through the backdoor,” he said.
John said that if no solution is in sight to address the problem now, the future generation would be facing a greater challenge than what the people of Sabah is facing today. – Daily Express
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