‘Sabah has huge potential for growth’

SANDAKAN: The Federal Government channels huge allocations for Sabah’s development to ensure that it will be on a par with other states.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he wished to see development in Sabah match other states by making frequent visits to the state.

Admitting that Sabah is lagging behind, he said the state had to keep up, but this could not happen overnight.

“We need to keep up because I see Sabah’s huge potential,” he said when launching the People’s Housing Project (PPR) in Taman Batu Sapi here.

Present were Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar and Sekong assemblyman Datuk Samsuddin Yahya.

Najib said his visit to Sabah was not a mere trip, but to champion the cause of the people.

“I am a prime minister who has visited Sabah and Sarawak more often than the former leader who led the country for 22 years,” he said, referring to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“He came to Sabah, but who implemented Pan-Borneo?”

Najib is scheduled to launch the Sipitang Pan-Borneo Highway package in Sundumin today.

He said the opposition merely wanted to erode the people’s confidence in the government, regardless of whether the issues it raised were true.

“If you cannot convince the people, at least confuse them — this is the mantra of the opposition. I know, because I have spoken to them.

“Some say the country is a failed state, but how can we be if we are able to implement projects such as PPR?

“If we are a failed state, why would Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud visit and make a deal with Petronas? Do you think he is going to waste his time with Malaysia?

“If we are a failed state, why was Malaysia chosen in his agenda to be the first country to visit before Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China or Maldives?”