Musa: Our goal to ensure progress for the people

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional’s manifesto for the 14th General Election was launched with an assurance that it is not just an “election exercise” .

With the theme “Tanah Airku Maju”, Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman said the manifesto, with its 20 thrusts, was born out of the coalition’s sincerity and honesty in wanting to protect the people and further develop the state.

“Our goal is not only to develop the state, but also to ensure progress for the people,” he said.

He added that if Sabah BN was given the mandate in the polls, it would move forward with its pledges as a united front.

In his speech during the launch of the manifesto before a partisan crowd made up of BN component leaders and members here last night, Musa who is also Sabah BN chief, said the event was an important day for the state.

“Why do I say important? The manifesto is not just an election exercise and not just an election promise.

“As a responsible party, we do not formulate a manifesto based on popularity.”

“The manifesto is not false promises, not false hope, but a determination to carry out commitments that can be implemented.

“There are even some (commitments) that are already being implemented,” he said.

Musa said this was different from the manifesto made up of empty promises by opposing parties.

“When their leaders were in power, as prime minister, as senior federal minister, what did they do for us in Sabah ?

“At the state level, there are parties with the ‘Sabah Ubah’ (Sabah Change) slogan, but they fail to prepare plans for the people, apart from just wanting to be in power,” he said in an apparent reference to opposition front leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

“I wish to remind the people to not change for the sake of change.

“Change does not guarantee goodness. There are changes that can cause downfall. Because of change, there are countries that paid the price.”

Musa allayed claims that Sabah was once rich and advanced.

“Any perception that Sabah is the poorest state in the country is a big lie.”

With political stability brought by the BN government, he said, the state’s annual revenue was now close to RM4 billion.

The state gross domestic product, too, increased from RM59.5 billion in 2011 to RM73.8 billion in 2016, he said.

He said Sabah was now fifth among the states in the country as far as economic position was concerned.

“We are not going to stop there. Our objective is to bring more progress to this ‘land below the wind’.”

Musa also said there was a time when Sabah depended heavily — up to 85 per cent — on timber revenue.

Under the BN administration, the state diversified its economic sources and revenues, too, had increased manyfold, he said.

He added that the dependency on the timber industry now was at 13 per cent.

“There are parties that claim Sabah have lost all its trees. They claim that the BN government exploited the state’s forest. These are all lies. Sabah has the biggest forest reserve in Malaysia, making up 53 per cent of its total land mass.”

Sabah was also close to achieving its target of setting aside 30 per cent of the total landmass as Totally Protected Areas, apart from replanting nearly 700,000ha of forested areas.

“All these are just a fraction of the long list of achievements and track record of the government. We are not saying we are perfect because there are many needs of the people that have to be delivered.

“But to accuse us of causing Sabah to regress is baseless. The record speaks for itself.”

The manifesto is not false promises, not false hope, but a determination to carry out commitments that can be implemented.

There are even some (commitments) that are already being implemented. TAN SRI MUSA AMAN

Sabah chief minister