State govt fair to all races – Abg Johari

MIRI: The state government is fair to all races as it does not practise racial discrimination when making decisions, assured Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

“I am the chief minister for the Ibans, Bidayuhs, Chinese, Malays, Melanaus, Orang Ulu as well as others. This is me and I’ve to be fair.

“Thus, I want my cabinet team to be fair to all races because this is Sarawak. Do not bother about others as long as Sarawak continues to be peaceful,” he declared in front of some 3,000 people when officiating at Senada Sejiwa Sibuti 2018 at the Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) in Bekenu yesterday.

Abang Johari made it clear that he has his own way in making Sarawak greater in every aspect, particularly in generating more income for the state.

He reminded that the people should be grateful that the state had never experienced any problem in top leadership transition due to good and structured planning and governance.

He cited Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) as an example of a party that has good leadership transition as shown when it decided to field six new faces in the 14th general election (GE14).

He thanked incumbents of the six seats for voluntarily giving way to the new candidates to contest the seats, including Sibuti.

He praised incumbent Datuk Ahmad Lai Bujang for performing well during his two terms as Sibuti MP.

However, Ahmad Lai was unable to continue to serve due to health reasons, he added, saying after much consideration, he decided to pick a young man in Lukanisman Awang Sauni as the most suitable candidate to replace Ahmad Lai.

He has confidence that Lukanisman would have no problem in working hand in hand with Lambir assemblyman Ripin Lamat and Bekenu assemblywoman Rosey Yunus, who is Assistant Minister of Women, Family and Childhood Development.

“Sharing the common objective of serving all the people in Sibuti from different races, religions and cultures, this team (Lukanisman, Ripin and Rosey) will be able to work together to further change the Sibuti development landscape.”

Present were the Chief Minister’s wife Datin Patinggi Datuk Juma’ani Tun Tuanku Bujang, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, former deputy chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Talip Zulpilip, Tupong assemblyman Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman and State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani.