Musa presenting the manifesto
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) Manifesto is not fake promises and fake hopes but is a determination that can be implemented and realized.
Chief Minister, Tan Sri Musa Haji Aman, who is also the Chairman of Sabah BN said at the launch of the Sabah BN Manifesto “Tanah Airku Maju” for the 14th General Election that some within the manifesto were already being implemented.
“This manifesto is not merely an election exercise and an election promise. As a party that is responsible, we cannot simply draft a manifesto on the basis of popularity,” he said.
He added that the Sabah BN Manifesto was different from those by the opposition, which is merely empty promises on paper.
“When their leaders were in power, as the Prime Minister, as the senior federal minister, what have they done to us in Sabah?” he reminded.
He also said that at State level, there are some who are yelling the “Change for Sabah” slogan, for the sake of gaining power.
He urged the people that they should not “change for the sake of change”, since change does not necessarily guarantee improvement.
“There are changes that bring forth fall, because of change, the country becomes ashes,” he said.
In his speech, he also spoke of Sabah’s achievement under the BN government, to counter allegations that Sabah was now poorer than before and more backwards than previously.
He cited that between 1970 and 2000, the State’s income has risen by 1 billion to 1,700 million by 2004; and that during the period of 15 years under the BN government, the State has increased its State’s production to 4,000 million today.
Additionally, he said, Sabah’s Gross Domestic Product has also increased from 59.5 billion in 2011 to 73.8 billion in 2016.
He then added that the assumption of Sabah being a poor state was merely a big lie.
He reminded that Sabah was dependent on her logs (85 percent of its income is derived from the logging sector) in the past, but today, the State has successfully diversified her economic resources and her dependence on the logging sector was now only 13 percent.
“There are many parties that alleged Sabah is done for and that the BN government has exploited Sabah’s forest.”
He denied the allegation, stating that these were fake stories since the fact was that Sabah has the largest forests reserves in the country, which accounts about 53 percent of the State.
“And Sabah also has high Totally Protected Areas (TPAs); about 30 percent which is three times more than the 10 percent set by international standards,” he said.
Aside from that, the State has also implemented forests replanting at more than 700,000 hectares of forests areas.
Meanwhile, 20 commitments are mentioned in the manifesto. They include safeguarding the rights of Sabah in the Malaysia Agreement 1963; to further strengthen the relationship amongst religions and races; to further spur the poverty eradication agenda and to create more affordable housing; to continuously address the issue of illegal immigrants; to empower ESSCOM by increasing its assets and membership; to create more employment opportunities; for a more efficient management of land; for the protection of the environment towards green economy; to reduce the gap of development between rural and urban areas; to develop women and towards gender equality; towards youth and sports development; and to increase human capital development.
The subsequent commitments are to strengthen the State’s financial and economy; to steer the agriculture sector; to spur the tourism sector; and to spur the development of the oil and gas sectors.
He said that the commitments were offered to the people of Sabah and that the commitments were to defend the people of Sabah and to develop the State.
“There are still many that we need to implement for the benefit of the people and the state. Our aim in not just towards a developed State but also developed citizens. With the trust and continued mandate from the people, we will continue our struggle,” he said.