BN the choice for Sepanggar folks

KOTA KINABALU: Barisan Nasional remains the choice as government for the population in Sepanggar.

Noriah Abdullah, 60, a beauty product dealer in Indah Permai, Sepanggar said the area had seen tremendous development under the BN government’s initiative to improve the economic status of the residents.

“We want Sepanggar to continue being under BN because we have seen the changes and progress, compared to a government that we cannot trust as credible.

“We worry that the development in Sepanggar would stagnate if the area falls into the wrong hands and our needs are ignored. The opposition is only high in rhetoric but when it comes to development it cannot produce anything,” she told Bernama. Nur Izman Abdul Razak, 58, said as a resident, he had been following the development of Sepanggar, which began, as he recalled, with the construction of the Sepanggar bay container port that subsequently provided ample employment opportunities for the locals.

“Now you can observe how far we have progressed, there’s a port, factories, the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) and many other developments,” he said.

University Malaysia Sabah (UMS)’ main campus, Universiti Teknologi Mara and Kota Kinabalu Polytechnic are also located in Sepanggar which is a parliamentary constituency that has two state seats, Karambunai and Inanam under it.

In GE13, Umno’s Datuk Jumat Idris secured 22,845 votes to claim Sepanggar for BN, defeating his closest rival DAP’s Jeffrey Kumin with a majority of 9,442 votes. Others in the fray were SAPP's Chong Hon Kiong and STAR’s Daniel John Jambun.