Najib: Cast your ballots wisely
Sabahans advised to consider risks and effects of change in govt
KOTA KINABALU: In the deep interiors of Sabah, the words “do not be rash with your ballot” echoed across loudly.
On the podium in Nabawan, about a four-hour drive from here, was Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chairman who has been criss-crossing the state in his efforts to reach out to as many Sabahans as possible.
Saying the people should not take the polls lightly, he said any adverse result would impact each of them.
“It is not difficult to change a government. But once you make the wrong choice, the country can go down,” he said.
Nabawan, a largely agricultural area, is a state seat under the parliamentary constituency of Pensiangan.
The folk here are mainly the indigenous Murut and minority ethnic such as Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh.
Najib said the political stability, peace and harmony achieved under the Barisan government should be preserved.
“A country will not prosper if there is unstable politics and tift among the people,” he said.
Najib said there was still much to be done to help Sabahans, especially rural folk, and said only Barisan could be depended on to achieve this.
The Prime Minister, who was welcomed with shouts of Onsoi (which means good in the native Murut language), said the people should always think of the younger generation when casting their ballots.
“We have planned to bring more development to Nabawan and Pensiangan, not just to build a health clinic or sports complex but to include these facilities in the next phase of the Pan Borneo Highway,” he said.
The Barisan chief said the Opposition was only good at making empty promises as it was desperate for power.
“Even a 93-year-old person wants to be made the prime minister and there is no country, not even Zimbabwe, which is like this,” he said, referring to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s nomination as the prime minister should Pakatan Harapan win the polls and the recent ouster of Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s long-serving president.
Najib, who visited Labuan, Penampang and Kota Marudu, pledged that Barisan would continue to bring change to Sabah.
“I have just launched the Nabawan health clinic for the benefit of villagers who now do not have to travel for hours to Keningau or Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
He said medical personnel stationed at the clinic would include those from the peninsula.
He announced a RM3mil allocation to build homes under the Hardcore Poor programme in Pensiangan, and directed the Health Ministry to set up a haemodialysis centre at the Nabawan Health Clinic.
Present were Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, who is Pensiangan MP.