UPKO delegates pass eight resolutions
KOTA KINABALU: Delegates to United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organization (UPKO)’s 15th triennial conference here yesterday passed eight resolutions among which was one that proposed six amendments to the party’s constitution.
Among the amendments were to the members of the Board of Trustees, the appointment of two vice division chiefs, the explanation of UPKO’s vision and objective, changing the name of it ‘Majlis Molohingon’ (Council of Elders) to ‘Majlis Penasihat (Advisory Council), and the setting up of a Deputy Organising Secretary post to assist the Organising Secretary to carry out party duties.
They also passed the resolution calling for the Election Commission to conduct a redelineation exercise of the state’s electoral boundaries which they claimed is long overdue.
“As stated in the Malaysia Constitution, a redelineation exercise is supposed to be carried out once every eight years but for Sabah, the last time it was done was in 2003. There is a need to carry out one in Sabah seeing that the population has increased and also the fact that there is rapid development in several areas,” they said and claimed that since 1994, the state constituencies were set up based on gerry mandering.
The Election Commission must also see to it that the total parliamentary constituencies in Sabah and Sarawak be not less than one third of the total in the whole country.
The 466 delegates further called on the Federal Government, especially the Education Ministry, to give bigger allocation for the maintenance of infrastructure such as school buildings, teachers’ quarters, teaching implements, electric and water supply as well as roads, especially in rural schools.
They also urged the government to provide allocation for the construction of new concrete or more comfortable schools to replace the existing wooden buildings as well as to review the education syllabus by putting more importance in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“We also appeal to the new state government to request for autonomy in the matter of education so that implementation and development can be administered more efficiently without waiting for decision and approval from the federal government.
“We urge that using English as the medium of delivery in schools be reintroduced and if the federal government is not ready to implement this, then the state government should do it,” the delegates said.
They also called on the federal government to include a special chapter on the formation of Sabah and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 in the history syllabus.