People will lose out if they vote in opposition reps — Musa

TONGOD: Actions taken by the Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) government are guided by the needs of the people who rely on their elected representatives to relay their requests.

Sabah BN chairman Tan Sri Musa Aman said the good thing about having elected representatives from the BN coalition is that they would always see him personally and tell of the plight of the people but not those from the opposition.

“Those from the opposition can't see me and those who lose out are the people,” he said when attending a gathering with the people and ground breaking ceremony for the Tongod Sports Complex yesterday.

Also present were BN candidates for the Kuamut state seat Datuk Masiung Banah and Kinabatangan parliamentary seat Datuk Bung Mokhtar. Both will be defending their seats in the 14th General Election on May 9.

In the gathering Musa handed out communal titles for plots of land stretching over 9,000 acres, involving over 900 beneficiaries from 12 villages in Beluran and five villages in Tongod.

He also handed over nearly 400 Native Land titles for those from 25 villages in the two districts involving plots of land measuring over 2,000 acres.

Musa also said he was even prepared to look into the request from the people to open up lands because he understands their needs.

Earlier Masiung said a total of 7,690 people in the Tongod area have received land titles over the years from the government under the helm of Musa.

“Tan Sri Musa listens to the people and he understands our needs. In Tongod there has been a lot of development brought such as roads where there was a time only about 20km was paved but now it stretches hundreds of kilometres.

“There is still the issue on clean water supply but give the government the opportunity to rectify this problem because a former Rural and Regional Development Minister failed to this,” he said in an apparent reference to Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal when he was still in BN.

Masiung who will be defending his Kuamut state seat, said Musa is a leader who delivers what he promised.

“In May last year he approved the construction of a sports complex for Tongod, less than a year later today, he is here to officiate the ground breaking ceremony.

“This is the kind of leader we need. Give the BN another five years and more will be delivered such as the survey of native lands so that the titles can be to the people who lived and toiled their ancestral land,” he said.

Meanwhile Bung said the people should be wary of lies being spread by the opposition.

“Do not listen them. They have been spreading lies and slandering the Chief Minister as well as the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) constantly because they have no sense of direction and no concrete issues.

“The two leaders have served well in their respective capacities and it is only right to return the mandate to the BN in the coming election,” he said

Meanwhile, at the meet-thepeople session in Sugut, Musa advised the people to stand united even if those who they supported was not chosen as a candidate in the upcoming general election.

“We must not feel bitter or angry because our ‘horse' was not chosen. Most important, we must not sabotage each other,” he said.

He said the act of sabotage would only put the opposition at an advantage, adding that those in the BN must look at the big picture and not short-term goals.

In his speech, former Sugut assemblyman Datuk Surady Kayong said Musa was a leader who brought about a lot changes to Sugut.

“Musa first came to Sugut in 1990, 24 years ago. Today he is Chief Minister who has brought sealed roads, solar hybrid power and telecommunications towers as well degazetted a forest reserve to NT land for the people.

Beluran parliament candidate, Datuk Ronald Kiandee echoed the similar sentiments about Musa, adding that he was not a seasonal leader.

“The CM doesn't come around just during election time. He visits before, during and after elections,” he said.

Candidate for Sugut seat, Datuk James Ratib said Musa has been receptive to the people's needs and requests.

“There's no need for change. We have a leader who listens and grants what we asked for,” he said.