Former Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) hawk Bernard Giluk Dompok fears that if the Barisan Nasional may pay a heavy price if it continues to pay scant attention to important issues in Sabah.

He foresees the political tsunami that swept Peninsular Malaysia on March 8, 2008 being repeated in Sabah and Sarawak if local issues are not addressed urgently.

merdeka statement launch 020807 bernard dompok “It is not an easy task to identify the root causes of a problem,” said Dompok, who broke away from PBS in1994 to head United PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko).

Dompok, who is federal minister for plantation industries and commodities, is of the view that the more things seem to change in Sabah, the more they tend to remain the same.

“This brings the ruling coalition back to Square One each time, and is testing the people's patience,” he said.

“It is not that voters have any particular love for the opposition. But they are frustrated with the lackadaisical attitude of the federal government in dealing with the issues brought to its attention.”

Dompok identified the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah and religious issues as among the many aspects underlining BN’s inability to change with the times.

“The perennial problem of illegal immigration has long been the issue in Sabah and the federal government has given a commitment to settle this issue,” said Dompok.

The people understand the obvious need for immigrant labour but the real issue, he said, is with foreigners with illegal Mykad who are now eligible to vote.

“This is the hardest for Sabahans to accept. There are also thousands who have sneaked in through the back door and acquired Malaysian personal documents.”

sabah illegal immigrant An idea of the scale of the problem can be discerned from recent figures released by the Home Ministry in Parliament. Of the 610,104 foreigners currently in Sabah, 317, 837 are illegals and 57,197 are considered refugees by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Upko chief reiterated that his party wants a royal commission of inquiry, a long-standing demand, into the real issues brought on by the presence of foreign labour in Sabah.

He said that although Upko is a small party - four MPs, six state assemblypersons and one senator - its role in propping up BN should not be underestimated.

“Upko is prepared to face difficulties and setbacks in elections in defence of a just cause. We will stand up against injustices. Upko is committed to ensuring a place for every citizen under the Malaysian sun.”

‘End the discrimination’

Dompok also said discrimination is rampant in religious matters.

“Several Christian churches which have brought in Bibles from Indonesia are still waiting for their Holy Books to be released to them. There are two court cases waiting to be heard with regard to the word ‘Allah’. These are unnecessary cases.”

missionary school 241207 play Among other issues, Dompok highlighted the uncertain fate of the memorandum that he submitted to Najib in June on the problems of mission schools in Malaysia.

A plus point, however, has been the introduction of the Key Performance Index and the National Key Result Areas to monitor the performance of the federal government in various areas.

Dompok also expressed gratitude for the official recognition of Sept 16 as Malaysia Day, saying this is “a correction of history”.

Upko has backed Najib's 1Malaysia slogan with its emphasis on ‘people first, performance now’ and hopes the tagline will be translated to meaningful action.