Appalling road conditions, land issues, squatters and the longstanding problem of illegal immigrants were just the tip of the iceberg unearthed during DAP’s ‘Unfulfilled Promises’ public hearings in Sabah last month.

Sabahans were asked to bring their grouses and evaluate whether or not the BN government had fulfilled its promises according to its National Day slogan. The last time that such large scale public feedback was conducted was by the Cobbold Commission, to determine if Sabah and Sarawak would join Malaysia.

Keningau Oath Stone Testament of Poor Infrastructure

DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang visited the Keningau Oath Stone which was erected as a reminder of the federal government’s guarantee to treat Sabah and Sarawak with fairness in accordance to the 20 point agreement. Sadly, these promises have not been kept.

MP for Kota Kinabalu Dr Hiew King Cheu showed photos of the numerous roads and bridges which were in deplorable condition despite the government’s pledge to build 1,365 roads in rural areas.

These untarred roads include in the following areas: Kota Belud, Telipok-Kiulu, Ranau, Kota Marudu,Tambunan, Inannam, Menggatal, Sook, 1 Borneo Kg Kibagu Road, Tenom, Kalabakan, Matunggong, Kudat Sandakan, Nosob in Penampang, Putatan and Kokol. The bridges in Kota Marudu and Beaufort are also in terrible condition.

“In 2003, BN announced that it would allocate RM100 million to build a 1.2km bridge to Bum-Bum island. However, the cost of building the bridge ballooned to RM240 million in 2006 and then RM420 million in 2009. Until today, the bridge has yet to be built,” Hiew said.

Bum-Bum island residents had to take matters into their own hands, some resorting to using a dangerous method to bring their vehicles over to the island – by balancing the cars on two small boats! (see photo below)

In a Quandary over PATIs

Staggering numbers of illlegals have been flooding the state since Mahathir’s clandestine ‘Projek IC’ decades ago to import votes to boost the ruling party. BN’s half-hearted attempts over the past 25 years to address the problem of illegal immigrants (Pendatang Asing Tanpa Izin/ PATI) demonstrate its lack of political will and perhaps more sinister motives.

One particularly egregious example of an empty promise was that made by Musa Aman, Chief Minister of Sabah, in 2006, to solve the problem of the illegal immigrants in Pulau Gaya which to date remains far from being solved.

The fact that many of these PATIs have been included in the electoral roll was highlighted by Dr. Chong Eng Leong, an expert on the illegal immigration situation in Sabah and the author of ‘Lest We Forget (Security and Sovereignty of Sabah)’.

Dr. Chong estimates that there is between one to two million illegal immigrants in Sabah, on top of the 900,000 who are on the census. This means that it is highly likely that native Sabahans are now outnumbered by foreigners in their own country.

Dr. Chong further assertion that up to 250,000 of these illegal immigrants have found their way into the electoral roll is a further demonstration that the voting strength of the native Sabahans have slowly but surely been diluted over time.
Despite recently forming a Royal Commission of Inquiry to address the issue after much pressure from PR, the commission has taken more than 6 months to come up with its term of reference, leaving its efficacy much in question.

The People Reject False Promises

DAP Sabah Chairman Jimmy Wong likened BN to a ‘defendant’ in a trial of public opinion of their ‘Promises Fulfilled’ slogan.

“If BN fulfils their promises, why are there only 35% of tarred roads in Sabah, when there are 80% of tarred roads in the Peninsular? These are basic infrastructure needs which the government has neglected over the years,” he said.
Although Sabah is a major producer of oil and gas for the nation, it is also the second poorest state and is plagued with many problems.

MP for Segambut Lim Lip Eng, who also joined the ‘Unfulfilled Promises’ public hearing tour, pointed out that much of the wealth of the land had been plundered by its leaders. Former Sabah Chief Minister Osu Sukam racked up debts amounting to RM7,142,859.98 in Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia. In 2005 Osu Sukam was reported to owe USD$1.8million to Ritz Hotel Casino in London, UK.

Penampang Villagers Suffer for Moyog Dam

Tampasak villagers in Kampung Tampasak, Babagon, had to relocate to make way for the Moyog dam project in the early 1990s. They agreed to move, thinking that the government would honor their request for 200 acres of land with native reserve title. Instead, the request was rejected and to add insult to injury, the 50 acres provided to them was never gazetted as a village settlement area.

Moyog Dam cost RM200 million to build and covers an area of 400 acres. It destroyed the land, affected the wildlife and ecosystem of the area. In return, the villagers were given poorly built houses and substandard infrastructure. Today, they are told that they are encroaching on government land.

DAP Sabah Secretary Dr Edwin Bosi said that the villagers are facing action from Sabah Parks for encroaching on the Crocker Range. Many villagers are jobless and did not receive compensation from the government. They turn to the nearby land for resources in order to survive.

“They do not see fairness or fulfilled promises in their helpless situation, and their children’s future is bleak,” Bosi said.

Ranau Sabahans with No ICs

While almost 2 million foreigners are living, working (and probably voting) in Sabah, many local-born Sabahans still have problems getting the identification documents they deserve as true citizens. In an absurd but true situation, the “Unfulfilled Promises” hearing here met at least three persons in such a predicament.

71-year old Siew Yin binti Chong Ah Kun was born in Sabah in 1941, she has a birth certificate and Sijil Anak Negeri. However, her four applications for IC (MyKad) have been rejected by the National Registration Department. This native-born Sabahan has to get by with a red Permanent Resident IC.

At the hearing was Puan Ramlah from Ulu Kinabatangan, she has 7 children but only 4 of them have birth certificates. The other three children were denied birth certificates because she doesn’t have a marriage certificate.

We also met Kenneth Tan, who, like many other Sino Natives, cannot pass down their lands to their children because they were born after 1982 and could not obtain Sijil Anak Negeri (SAN). -The Rocket