Adenan (second right) presents a letter of appointment to headman. Also seen are (from right) State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Ghani, Zahid and Jabu.
KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem has once again pleaded with voters to give him one term to transform Sarawak into ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’.
“More needed to be done for Sarawak because two years in office is just not enough,” he said at the opening of ‘Sejiwa Senada 2016 Kota Samarahan’ at the Kota Samarahan Civic Centre here yesterday.
Datin Patinggi DatoJamilah Anu, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri and Assistant Minister of Social Development (Youth) Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah were among the dignitaries present.
“Give me five years and you will see what happen. You have seen nothing yet!” he said to a rousing crowd of nearly 8,000 people.
He added he just wanted to do more for Sarawak and was not power or position-crazy as he had held numerous key positions throughout his political career. Most importantly, Adenan said he would continue to pursue negotiations with the federal government for the return of autonomy to the Sarawak government as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963.
“We want those powers back. When these were proposed to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, he didn’t reject them and was open for further discussions and negotiations,” he added.
Among the 53 achievements worth mentioning in his two years in office, he said was that no child of Sarawak should be called by names of ‘lain-lain’ (others) and ‘pendatang’ (immigrants).
“We don’t want our Dayak friends to be insulted by being called ‘lain-lain’. As such the federal government has agreed to recognise the Dayaks by eliminating the use of the term ‘lain-lain’ in official forms and replacing it with Iban, Bidayuh and so on,” he said.
“And the Chinese are not ‘pendatang’ for they have, over the course of several generations, set roots here. They are born here, grew up here, went to schools here, dated here, married here, gave births here, gotten sick here, died here and buried here,” he added.
Other notable achievements mentioned included the abolishment of tolls, reducing electricity tariffs and abolishment of quit rent. On the card is the reduction of assessment rates. As such, Adenan said it was important to maintain and strengthen ties with the federal government to bring Sarawak to greater heights.
“I choose my friends wisely and won’t befriend them blindly. I am a good friend with Najib and Zahid because they can help to develop Sarawak,” he said.
Adenan also said he was impressed that Najib had visited Sarawak 49 times and more importantly he came here not empty-handed but with gifts of development while Zahid visited nine times in just one short year in office.
“Even in this tough economic condition the prime minister approved RM16 billion for the Pan Borneo Highway project,” he said.
The three-day Sejiwa Senada programme that began on Friday features many activities such as booths and exhibitions run by government departments and agencies, sports and games as well as cultural and entertainment showcases.
Awang Tengah (left) and Zahid (second left) check out local products as they tour the exhibition area.
The finalists of a pageant contest dressed in full traditional attire of various races and tribes in Sarawak are seen in a photocall.