UPKO vows to win back seats
United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organizaion (UPKO) is commited in helping Barisan Nasional (BN) win back the seats it lost in the 13th General Elecion.
KOTA KINABALU: United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organization (UPKO) is committed in helping Barisan Nasional (BN) win back the seats it lost in the 13th General Election.
Its acting president Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau said that UPKO would continue to work hard at increasing the ‘pasokmomogun’ community’s support for BN.
In his speech at the opening of UPKO’s 2014 Convention which was officiated by Prime Minister cum BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak here yesterday, Madius thanked the latter, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman and the presidents as well as leaders of the BN component parties for their attendance.
“This two way communication is very important as it is closely related to UPKO’s struggles in regaining the support of the ‘pasokmomogun’ community’ for BN,” he said and lamented that there are voices of dissent claiming that UPKO is just BN’s puppet because although it has voiced many issues, the party had not been effective.
In this regard, Madius said, “Sir you have asked me whether I am aware that there is only 35 per cent level of support from the ‘pasokmomogun’ to BN and what are the steps UPKO should take to increase the support in the 14th GE?
“Although UPKO has limited resources, let me assure you that I have taken steps to address this and one of them is to increase the party’s membership and they will vote for BN in the future. UPKO has also taken steps to increase its defence in the cyber world so that it can thwart the unrelenting attacks by the opposition.
“That is about all UPKO can do for now and we hope to be able to increase the ‘pasokmomogun’ support to 60 per cent as it was in the 12th GE. Whether UPKO succeeds or not depends on how effective and responsive the central leadership in Putrajaya is in addressing the issues and grouses raised by the ‘pasokmomogun’ community,” he stressed.
Madius also spoke about the issue of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah and urged the federal government to have the findings as well as recommendations of the RCI tabled during the current Parliamentary sitting.
UPKO also urges all quarters including officers in the Home Ministry to refrain from making reference to the RCI report before it is made public and before its recommendations are approved by the BN component parties as well as the state and federal governments.
Touching on land issues affecting the ‘pasokmomogun’ community and natives in Sabah, Madius pointed out that it was an open secret that the issuance of land titles in the state takes a long time.
“We are grateful that the state Government has taken positive steps to ease the problem of the people by introducing the communal title system and the Program Khas Perkhidmatan Tanah Anak Negeri Sabah (PANTAS).
“We are aware that the implementation of PANTAS requires funding for land surveying works by private surveyors and while we thank the federal government for the RM35million allocated under the NKRA to resolve NCR issues, we are appealing that the allocation be increased to RM200 million so that the problem with issuing land titles can be resolved,” he said.
UPKO, he added, would also like to see administration integrity of the departments involved so that instances of power abuse could be avoided as he was made to understand there had been cases where land ownership had been changed without the knowledge and approval of the Lands and Surveys Department’s director.
UPKO, he said, hoped that the more than 300,000 backlog of cases could be resolved soon, adding, “If the RM200 million allocation is approved, it will be the best gift to the ‘pasokmomogun’ community this year.
He said the party was also proposing that the notice system under Section 13 of the Land Ordinance where all applications involving NCR be exhibited only on the District Office’s notice board as it is ineffective.
Many people have lost their NCR because they did not have the opportunity to read the notices at the District Office or Land Office, he lamented and urged the government to consider setting up a tribunal to address the issue.
He also said that UPKO urged the government to improve the basic infrastructure in Sabah such as the roads and proposes that the allocation for sealed, earth and gravel roads be increased.