The three fundamental promises made to the people of Sabah, set in the Keningau Batu Sumpah or Monument of Oath, should actually inspire the formation of policies for the people of Sabah, DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang said.  

The promises are on freedom of religion, freedom of land rights and freedom of native customs, which Lim said were fundamental to the formation of Malaysia 52 years ago.

“For a start, let the the Sabah government introduce a “land for landless” policy in Sabah arising from the Batu Sumpah guarantee of land rights for all native Sabahans,” Lim ( left ) said in a statement yesterday.

Replicas of the Batu Sumpah were made in a movement that began five months ago and has since been raised greater awareness among Sabahans about their basic rights.

To date, there are five replicas of the Batu Sumpah installed in various parts of the state.

The first replica was installed in Inanam, second in Mempulut in Pensiangan, the third a double mammoth Batu Sumpah in Moyog, the fourth in Kampung Iban in Merotai and the most recent on eas erected in Kampong Kondopi, Matunggung.

The original Batu Sumpah monument was erected in Keningau to commemorate the terms on which the former British crown colony of North Borneo joined with the former colony of Sarawak and Peninsular Malaya to form Malaysia.

“For the first time in Sabah history, the voice and aspirations of the people of Sabah are being given more attention by Putrajaya than at any other time in the state’s history,” Lim said.

It is simply because of the realisation that without the East Malaysians, Lim said, it is Anwar Ibrahim who would have been prime Minister and Najib Abdul Razak the opposition leader.

“Sabah and Sarawak were the saviours of not only the BN but Najib as the prime minister.

“Never before have there been more federal government appointees in the history of Sabah – from cabinet ministers to the Parliament speaker and deputy speaker,” Lim pointed out.

However, he also pointed out that the number of Sabahans appointed as heads of federal departments in Sabah, after 52 years of independence was only 20 to 30 percent.

“It should at least be 70 to 80 percent, after more than five decades of the formation of Malaysia,” he said.

Lim then asked whether the BN was prepared to set a timetable to achieve the target of at least 75 percent Sabahans heading the federal departments in their own state within a year.