THE recent request from Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem to voters in the state to give him five more years to accomplish what he set out to do as chief minister, received a resounding ‘yes’ from both sides of the political divide.
He has taken everyone by surprise with his no-nonsense approach in dealing with problems besetting the state and his brave stance on racial and religious issues.
Even the opposition was moved to applaud his performance in his first year in office and since they have no chance of taking over the state government in the next election it is safe to say Adenan would be their choice to lead the state for the next term.
However, there is concern that Adenan might have opened too many fronts too soon.
Exacerbating the challenges he has taken up are the people behind the issues he is addressing.
Those who run illegal logging syndicates for example are big time operators with tentacles spread across the whole spectrum of the industry including the enforcement industry.
The fight against illegal logging involves addressing corruption within the enforcement system as much as going after the illegal loggers.
A measure of the enormity of the problem is the fact that despite the numerous raids and tons of illegal timber seized not one operator has been detained.
This raised the suspicion that there are informants within the enforcement agencies who tipped off the operators of impending raids.
However, the frequent raids have curbed illegal logging in the state and more importantly resulted in the people having the confidence to come forward to inform the enforcement agencies of illegal logging in their areas.
This is a major step forward as in the past they have all but given up hope of any action being taken after their reports.
Although Adenan is in a hurry to deal with the problems besetting the state, he is aware that it will be a long tough fight hence his plea for a full five year term to achieve his goals.
It would be a fallacy to think that Adenan would banish forever corruption which enables so many illegal activities to flourish in the state after five years.
Corruption is like weeds in a garden which must be constantly kept in check or else they would grow back and overwhelm the crops again.
What the chief minister could achieve if given another five years to lead the state is to reduce corruption to the minimum and more importantly establish a culture of zero-tolerance to corruption.
He should be given the chance to inculcate the people’s awareness of their ability and duty to fight corruption and instill their confidence in the enforcement agencies.
Yes sir, we will give you the chance.