Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem's stern warning to bar 'controversial' politicians of Peninsular Malaysia from entering Sarawak is seen as targeting Pakatan Rakyat leaders coming over for the Balingian by-election.

In the next few days, a number of Pakatan politicians will be arriving to help PKR candidate Abdul Jalil Bujang who is facing BN-PBB candidate Yussibnosh Balo in the by-election contes, polling for which is scheduled for March 29, 2014.

Among them is PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim who is expected to be in Balingian on March 25, PAS deputy president Mat Sabu was here early this week.

Is the state government going to bar Anwar Ibrahim from coming here? Political observers are keenly watching this.

Under the 18/20 point Malaysia Agreement Sarawak has is full authority to control the entry of Malaysians from the peninsula.

The state has invoked its authority to turn away a number of controversial Pakatan politicians and social and human rights activists from entering Sarawak which ban still stands to this day.

In a statement issued last night, Adenan said that he would not hesitate to bar outsiders who are religious bigots, racists and trouble-makers from the state.

"The state government will not hesitate to bar them, while those already in the state would be deported if they stoke racial or religious tensions," he said, pointing out that Sarawak is a state where all races had been living in peace and harmony for decades many and as such it will not tolerate anything that could harm the multi-racial community’s solidarity.

Bigots, racists, watch out!

Adenan said: "As a responsible government we will invoke the immigration power given to us by the federal constitution to prevent outsiders who are known to be religious bigots, communal racists and trouble-makers from coming into the state or to deport them if they are already in Sarawak.

"This is to prevent peaceful Sarawakians from being infected by racism and religious bigotry. This is done in the best interest of the peaceful people of Sarawak, who are known to be hospitable and moderate in their views and actions," he added.

The by-election is considered to be Adenan's first test of leadership since taking over as chief minister on Feb 28.

Observers see that the intention behind the move as preventing  peninsula politicians from exploiting issues regarding the Balingian sub-district that had been neglected for the past 50 years even though the former chief minister was its elected representative.

These issues are considered ‘harmful' to  the state government’s image like that of Press Metal aluminum smelting plant polluting the air, water and environment of Melanau villages and Iban longhouses.

Land-grabbing in the constituency is very serious where almost all of the natives (Ibans and Melanaus) have lost their ancestral lands to oil palm companies.

Water problem is also a major issue in  Balingian whose people have been depending on rain water for their daily needs as rivers have been polluted by the smelting plant and chemicals from oil palm plantations.

For the Ibans in the longhouses, they have to drink the polluted water of Balingian River as they cannot afford to buy mineral water from Balingian and Mukah towns.

Trapped in the promises rut

The BN government has been trying to pacify the angry voters with promises to solve these problems. They include building a secondary school made over 15 years ago as well as to replacing the dilapidated SK Kampung Tellian building with a new one.

It has also promised to look into the water problems.

Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian ( right ) told the voters that they have been neglected for the past 50 years and should not be too happy with the various promises made by the BN leaders, especially the building of the schools.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin this week promised to allocate RM60 million to build the secondary school and RM19 million for the primary school.

"The projects are yet to be confirmed by the Economic Planning Unit as there are procedural needs and evaluation that must be looked into first. The site needs to be identified, the plans to be drawn, and so on," said Baru.

"It is interesting to note that this kind of promises is made when there is no mention of funds in the budget. What was stated in the budget was to repair schools and not to build new ones," he said.

He said that the non-inclusion of the secondary school in the budget indicated that the people of Balingian have been abandoned. The promises are made because of the impending polls, he added.

His colleague See Chee How, PKR director of the by-election said that Muhyiddin had handed over post-dated cheques to the Balingian people.

"You don't know when you can cash them," he said.