GPS vows to bring political autonomy to Sarawak, says Julaihi

SEBUYAU: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) vows to bring political autonomy to Sarawak for it to chart its future and fight for rights and interests of Sarawakians.

In pointing out this out, Assistant Minister of Coastal Road Datuk Julaihi Narawi says the formation of GPS – a coalition of local Sarawak political parties – would give more power to Sarawak government in looking after Sarawak without being dictated by the federal government.

Moreover, he says this does not mean that Sarawak is against the federal government; instead, it is really looking forward of working together with the present ruling coalition.

“Due to the different political scenario in the country (after the 14th general election, or GE14), the (Sarawak) government decided to leave Barisan Nasional (BN) and formed GPS in order to have political autonomy to fight for the interest and rights of the people in Sarawak.

“But that does not mean that we are against the federal Pakatan Harapan (PH) government because it is always our hope to work together (with PH) for the benefit of the people who have given us the mandate during the GE14,” he said at a Gawai-Raya gathering in Kampung Sampat community hall here yesterday.

On coastal roads Julaihi, who is Sebuyau assemblyman, said the project must be carried out to provide accessibility to the people in coastal areas.

He believed that the PH government shares similar aspiration with Sarawak government in helping the people in the coastal and rural areas.

“The needs of the people in the coastal and rural areas should become our focus and I believe that the PH government also share the similar aspiration for us to work together,” he pointed out.

Julaihi also reiterated the call for the new federal government to carry on with the three bridge projects – those for Batang Igan, Rambungan and Batang Lupar – which had been agreed upon under the previous BN-led government.

On another matter, Julaihi called upon all parent-teacher associations (PTAs) here to work together in finding ways and charting out programmes to improve academic performance of the schools in this area.

He assured the PTAs that he would continue to channel allocations to them and arrange The Borneo Post subscription for all schools with the hope of improving the academic performance of the schoolchildren. Later, he presented cheques to 19 PTAs here – each receiving RM10,000.

Meanwhile at a similar function at SK Bajong, Julaihi assured the local folk that the projects meant for the area would be distributed fairly, regardless of race and religion.

In this regard, he called upon the people to not listen to baseless claims instigated by certain quarters.