KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will have its own training centre for Native Court soon.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak with his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor accompanied by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman and wife, Datin Seri Hajah Faridah Haji Tussin arrived in Penampang yesterday afternoon to perform the ground-breaking ceremony for the proposed RM30 million Native Court Training Institute (ILMAN) at Kampung Pagansakan in Inobong, Penampang.
Najib also officiated at the opening of the RM9 million Pagansakan bridge which was completed three weeks ago in Inobong.
Penampang member of parliament Tan Sri Bernard Dompok described Oct 13, 2012 as a date that will go down in the annals of history of not only Penampang but also Sabah.
“The ILMAN will be a research centre which will ensure the vision of the Native Court in Sabah and more importantly to train the District Chief, Native Chief and village heads so that the native law can implemented smoothly and exhaustively,” the Upko president said.
Once completed, the training centre will train personnel for the 35 Native Courts throughout the state.
In his opening remarks, the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister pointed out that the centre and the Pagansakan bridge which Najib launched would bring about huge and positive impact on the local community.
“The infrastructure development also reflects what we have gone through in the past five years especially since Datuk Sri Najib became Prime Minister. This shows that there are development implemented by Barisan Nasional (BN) throughout the state including in Penampang.
“I have served under three Prime Ministers in my tenure in the federal Government and am able to translate their economic transformation programmes,” he said and disclosed that under the government’s National Key Results Area (NKEA), nine roads in Penampang have been upgraded and the constituency has also received RM132 million in allocation for development projects.
According to him, the ILMAN and Pagansakan bridge cost RM30 million and RM9.05 million respectively.
The ILMAN will be built on a five-acre site at Kampung Pogun Kibabaig, about one kilometer from the Sabah Cultural Centre and construction is expected to commence in November this year within 24 months.
The Pagansakan bridge provides alternative access to their kampungs to about 2,000 people in the area as there is a primary school, a church, tourism activity such as homestay and also brings relief to those involved in agriculture.
Dompok however pointed out that development in Penampang are not only in the form of roads and bridges as there have been allocations for schools such as the RM5.6 million SMK Bahang and the Anglo-Chinese school.
He expressed his gratitude to Najib for listening to the grouses of the people in Penampang and for coming up with solutions to their problems.
“I thank you for your patience as the expectations of the rakyat today are very high. There are times when you speak slightly louder at meetings, but these are sincere attempts to find solutions to the problems people sincerely want us to solve.
“The setting up of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah is an example how Sabah leaders can be very assertive … another is the funding requirement for Sabah and I thank you for responding to the need of the hour.
“You have taken the bull by the horn in bringing to closure the big debate on the issue of illegal immigration and I sincerely hope that Commission will do justice to your bold step.
“As President of a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) and as chairman of the BN committee in Penampang as well as a member of parliament, I take this opportunity to say that we will walk every step of the way with you, to complete your mission of transforming this country and to ensure that all Malaysians have their rightful place under the Malaysian sun,” Dompok said.
Also present were Minister of Plantation Industry and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok with his wife, Puan Sri Diana Dompok, Speaker Datuk Seri Salleh Said, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, Cabinet ministers, Assistant ministers, BN component party leaders, elected representatives and heads of departments as well as community leaders.