BN MP: Tsunami will reach Sabah if grievances ignored

Sabahan member of parliament Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) said today the political ‘tsunami' that inundated peninsular Malaysia in the last general election would reach Sabah unless long-standing grievances were addressed by the next poll.

"If these hopes (of Sabahans) are not fulfilled, the tsunami will reach Sabah. If the tsunami reaches Sabah, I will also be swept away in the tsunami," said Abdul Ghapur in his debate on the royal address.

Abdul Ghapur said the federal government had been heedless of the many complaints that have been raised about its failure to provide in Sabah even basic amenities such as water, electricity, housing, infrastructure and proper school facilities.

"If you compare the development in Sabah with that in peninsula, it is as the distance between the earth and the sky," he said.

While people in the rural and interiors of the state still depend for their water on their own wells, those in the urban cities have to bear with the irregular supply of "milk-tea" coloured water from their taps, he said.

Even Sabah's large urban centres suffer frequent blackouts, he added, while much of the rural population do not have electrical supply. He also cited the incidence of school children in the rural areas being given instant noodles instead of more nutritious meals.

"It is as if we are giving cat food to these school children," he said, adding that the allocation in monetary terms that ultimately trickles down to each child is a mere 30 sen.

"If such conditions not improved, not only will BN lose in the next general election, I will also lose!" said Abdul Ghapur.

Security and social problems

He also queried why the federal government had stipulated 2025 as the target for Sabah to become developed, while the country as a whole was looking towards Vision 2020.

The federal government has also not tackled seriously the problems of inflation, as well as the security and social problems in Sabah which he claimed resulted from the flood of undocumented migrants - especially from the southern Philippines - into the state.

Asserting that crime and safety were issues that come under the responsibilities of the federal government, Abdul Ghapur called for a federal-level committee to tackle the issue of undocumented migrants.

Citing a newspaper report earlier this month containing a call by former chief minister Harris Salleh for a referendum on whether Sabahans and Sarawakians wished to remain as part of Malaysia or not, Abdul Ghapur said he was worried the people would answer in the negative.

"I worry that if a referendum was held, Sabahans will not want to stay in Malaysia because of the issue of illegal immigrants, as they would want to be with the Philippines. What will happen to Sabah?! What will happen to Sabah?!"

Despite having raised these issues many times before, there seemed a lack of seriousness on the part of the administration in Putrajaya to solve the problems raised, he added.

"What goes into the (federal government's) right ear comes out the left," he said.

He also said "there are many double-standards in Barisan Nasional" and that the federal government had long "taken Sabah for granted".

Reshuffle the cabinet

An indication of this is the appointment of only three Sabahans as cabinet ministers, whereas Sabah and Sarawak "saved" BN by giving the coalition 54 seats in parliament, said Abdul Ghapur.

On the peninsula, on the other hand, one particular state was given as many as seven cabinet ministers' posts, while another state - which had fallen to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition of opposition parties - was given four ministers' positions.

Explaining his rejection of a ministerial post following the general election, Abdul Ghapur said it was out of shame over what he described as the "insulting" treatment meted out to Sabahans as reflected in cabinet appointments.

"It was an insult! An insult" he said.

"This has made Sabahans ashamed. Not only have we been neglected, we have also been ‘anak tirikan' (treated as step children). We are part of this country, but are treated as second-class citizens," said Abdul Ghapur, whose impassioned pleas were met with thumps of approval by other BN MPs.

"We are asking the prime minister: reshuffle the cabinet. Give to Sabah the important posts!" said Abdul Ghapur.

He repeated many times, however, that he "will not jump" to Pakatan Rakyat. "We will not enter the opposition parties," he asserted.

Abdul Ghapur is not the first Sabah BN backbencher to voice out his displeasure with the apparent unfair treatment meted out by BN. Last week Anifah Aman also raised concerns, warning that the Sabah MPs would defect to Pakatan Rakyat unless something was done to correct the situation.

Speculations are rife that a large number of BN MPs from Sabah would be crossing over to Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Rakyat anytime soon.