Call for more seats in big K’gau, Tambunan districts
KENINGAU: Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, Datuk Haji Sairin Karno, has proposed the creation of more state and parliamentary constituencies to speed up development in the the big interior districts of Keningau and Tambunan.
“The size of Keningau is equal to the size of several states in the Peninsular that have many state and parliamentary constituencies.
“I think Keningau and Tambunan can also create five and three state constituencies respectively,” he said.
Sairin, who spoke to The Borneo Post during his daughter’s wedding reception at the Keningau Sports Complex hall yesterday, said that this matter is among the Keningau people’s hopes in 2018 for more state constituencies in the interior to spur further development in tandem with what is happening in several states in the peninsula whose size is equal to Keningau.
At present, he said, there is only one parliamentary constituency, namely, Keningau, and three State constituencies, namely, Tambunan, Bingkor and Liawan.
“Although, creation of a constituency is based on the population, for some areas, many of its voters can be moved to new areas to fulfil the requirements.
“I believe if there are five state constituencies in Keningau and three in Tambunan, it will be easier for the people representative to develop the area better,” he said.
Sairin is not denying the fact that the interior of Keningau, Pensiangan and Tenom are far behind in development compared to those in the Peninsula of the same size as these areas.
He said, one state in peninsula of the same size as Keningau, Pensiangan and Tenom have many state and parliamentary constituencies and their progress was greater compared to the three parliamentary areas in the interior.
“It is time that the state and parliamentary constituencies in the interior are increased to match some states in the Peninsular which are as vast as our area.
“I believe that with more state and parliamentary constituencies in the interior, the issue of development will not arise and all the people will feel that they are cared for,” he said.
He also hoped that the year 2018 will have a positive impact for a more sustainable economic growth and political stability, besides peace and prosperity of the people.
The wedding ceremony of Sairin’s daughter, Siti Noor Zati Kamela and Mohd Hariz Najiy Omar, was attended by more than 3,000 people, including Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, Datuk Daniel Kinsik.