MIRI: PBB Telang Usan chief Dominic Nyurang Ajang yesterday slammed PKR Baram chief Roland Engan for claiming that the people of Baram wanted a change in government.
Describing Roland’s assertion as ‘baseless’, Dominic said it merely showed that Roland was not aware of the real solution on the ground and the latter had not moved around to see the various development projects implemented by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in the area.
Dominic was responding to a press article headlined ‘Baram folk will continue to beg under BN’ in which Roland asserted that “…the people of Baram had high hopes for a change by the BN government, but one that never came”.
He said it was good that Roland also mentioned that Baram is the biggest constituency in Malaysia, adding: “I am sure he also understands that it takes a lot of efforts to bring about socio-economic changes to every nook and cranny of the vast territory”.
“May I remind him, it also takes time but despite all these challenges, the BN government has not failed Baram in many aspects,” Dominic pointed out.
He cited the upgrading of Telang Usan from a sub-district to a district, the building of bridges and various development works in Baram, the solar project (hybrid and Sares) and the Highland Development Agency (HAD) as examples of the many projects implemented in Baram.
“Not to mention the minor rural projects (MRP) and the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) projects. There’s a continuous effort to develop Baram from a backcountry to be on par with other territories in Malaysia.
“No need to beg for something that is already approved, in place and ongoing. And for Roland to want to change that is like wanting to change something that is not broken,” he stressed, adding that there were many more projects for Baram in the pipeline.
In the press article, Roland also claimed that Pakatan Harapan could change Baram in 10 years.
“Admitting Baram is a large territory but then, in the same breath, saying he can change Baram in a short time is all rhetoric, easier said than done and clear-cut ambitious. In a nutshell, a political stunt,” he said.
Dominic stressed that, in general, Baram folks were still in favour of BN.
“The recent Budget Speech by Prime Minister Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak has shut the Putrajaya door on Pakatan Harapan’s face,” he said.