Musa, James and Beluran Umno leaders together with the division delegates after the opening of the division meeting at Hakka Hall in Sandakan on Saturday.
SANDAKAN: The power sharing concept practised by Umno with the other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties has allowed Umno to lead the Sabah state government for a longer period of time compared with other parties before it.
Sabah Umno Liaison Committee chairman Datuk Seri Musa Aman said some Sabah leaderships’ ethnic-based parties that once led the state government did not last long.
He said today Umno has succeeded in being in power longer to lead the Sabah state government along with other BN component parties.
“The Sabah state government in the past had more ethnic leanings, but Umno in BN was united because of the mutual respect for each other despite being from different races and religions, in line with the power sharing concept,” he said.
Musa, who is also Chief Minister, said this when opening the Beluran Division Umno delegates conference yesterday.
Musa said party history in the state was important to realise that no one party could lead the Sabah state government other than through power sharing.
According to him, via power sharing, the Sabah state government can focus fully on developing the state, without being left behind by other states.
The Chief Minister advised the people not to fall for lies spread by the opposition as they will be “gone” after election.
He said that the opposition might point out that there were certain places in Sabah with lack of development, but he was aware that there were still a lot to be developed in the 60 areas in Sabah.
“We (Umno) are still in a good shape. We are not weak. The opposition on the other hand have a lot of problems (not stable). What we must do now is to maintain our strength by being united as one big family.
“Do not let minor misunderstanding break us apart,” he said.
Musa emphasised that all elected representatives in the state should go to the ground to feel the pulse of the people and solve the problems faced by them,
The concept proved that elected BN representatives were not seasonal leaders but went to meet the people before, during and after the elections to fulfill the mandate entrusted by them, he said.
Musa also said that he was happy to see that Umno Beluran was going strong under the leadership of Datuk James Ratib.
Meanwhile, James said that during the meeting, Umno Beluran members had come out with four proposals.
Two of the proposals stated that Umno Beluran members strongly oppose irresponsible individuals that assist parties from outside of the country to jeopardise the sovereignty and economy of the country.
Two other proposals stated that the Chief Minister and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Tun Najib Abdul Razak have Umno Beluran’s full support in their position in the government as well as in Umno and Barisan Nasional.
James, who is also Sugut assemblyman, also emphasised during a press conference held after the meeting that the government had brought vast development to Beluran, particularly Sugut.
“The government had brought over RM500 million worth of developments to Sugut in the past four years. Today, 80 per cent of the people of Sugut have access to electricity supply while 60 per cent of them receive clean water supply.
“We have spoken to the Rural Development Ministry and several water plants will be built in Sugut and Paitan,” he said.
He added that seven solar hybrid projects were being built in Sugut that would benefit more than 20,000 residents.
A secondary school, SMK Butition will also be constructed next year with hostels for its students and teachers.
“We are aware that many Sugut students had to study in other districts as there are no hostels in Sugut’s schools. Hostels for students and teachers will also be built for SMK Simpangan. We hope that this development will be completed as soon as possible,” he said.