Come March 1, Tan Sri Adenan Satem will celebrate his second anniversary as the chief minister of Sarawak. He has introduced a slew of initiatives to bring greater prosperity to the Land of the Hornbills. He shares with Adib Povera the highlights of his career in an hour-long interview
Question: How do you view the state’s economic growth?
Answer: Sarawak’s economic advancement is not as rapid if you were to compare it with states in Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak has a lot of catching up to do.
Question: In less than two years, you introduced policies to stimulate development and improve the lot of rural folk. Which particular initiative has had a major impact on the people?
Answer: The major ones include the reduction in electricity rates in Sarawak. Our argument was that if we can provide cheap electricity to foreign companies, why can’t we do the same for our people.
That (reduction) has been done with regard to domestic (between two and 40 per cent), commercial (between 15 and 50 per cent) and industrial (between eight and 11 per cent) tariffs.
Secondly, the abolition of tolls. There used to be three tolled bridges in Sarawak: Lanang, Baram and Tun Salahuddin.
Question: What caused the state government to reduce ferry fares?
Answer: Sarawak is a land of rivers and they have been one of the main modes of transport for the people. (Since July 1 last year, the fare has been reduced to a nominal RM1 per ticket).
Question: Will the policies introduced by your administration help Sarawak Barisan Nasional garner greater support from the people in the election?
Answer: I don’t know, but I hope the rakyat will appreciate what we have done. In less than two years, we have introduced a number of policies and adopted principles to elevate our status. Among them is the move to do away with the “lain-lain” status in (federal) government forms. We do not want to be categorised as “others” since we sing the same national anthem as everyone else.
And, I made it clear to everyone not to label the Chinese as pendatang (migrants), especially the third and fourth generations.
They are citizens of this country. They were born and married here and will probably die and be buried here.
In Malaysia, there are hundreds of thousands of Chinese graves. It is not as if they died yesterday.
Some of the graves are hundreds of years old, which indicates that the Chinese have been here for some time. We don’t want to call the Chinese pendatang like some groups do in Peninsular Malaysia. But that is their business.
The Federal Government has also been reminded to not formulate policies assuming that all Bumiputeras are Malays. The general understanding is that almost all Bumiputeras in the peninsula are Muslims. It is different in Sarawak as the Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Hulu, Melanau and Malays are also Bumiputeras. Malays account for only 25 per cent (of the population in Sarawak). That is why I say “kitak ni secupak, bukan segantang” (We are small and not a large population). You must gear your policies based on the composition of the people. Not everything has to be uniform and based on a narrow basis.
We are very firm about the
(influx of) illegal immigrants because we do not want to end up like Sabah. It is better to prevent it from happening, in the first place, than to have to look for a remedy later. That is why we are strict. We are adding more than 100 Immigration officers for Sarawak to prevent illegal immigrants from coming into the state. Sarawak has also waived the Goods and Services Tax on services provided by local authorities.
Question: What is your view of Chinese Independent Schools?
Answer: Chinese Independent Schools offer good education for the people, including Bumiputeras. There are Malays and Ibans attending these schools, which are not recognised by the Federal Government. The state government took a different approach. We allocated RM3 million in 2014, RM4 million last year and RM5 million this year for these schools.
We also acknowledged the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). Universities around the world, except for public higher education institutions in Malaysia, accept UEC as an entry qualification. In Sarawak, we recognise it for entry into the state civil service and for scholarships and loans from Yayasan Sarawak. However, I can’t get the Federal Government to commit to this. That is why the country is losing talent. We train them only for them to work somewhere else.
Question: What is your reaction to criticism following your announcement that Sarawak will adopt the English language as the other inter-government correspondence language in the state?
Answer: We have no intention to lower the standard of Bahasa Malaysia. Such allegations are not true. Why can’t we be proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English, since English is the international language of science, history and technology? How would you communicate with the rest of the world only in Bahasa? English should not be viewed as the language of the Anglo-Saxon people who colonised us. Why do we choose to ignore the elephant in the room?
Question: How will you ensure that Sarawak’s vision to become a developed state by 2030 can be achieved?
Answer: We have initiated a number of development programmes, including rural transformation initiatives.
Sarawak has approved additional funding of RM500 million each this year and last year for rural development. This additional allocation will enable the state government to build more bridges, roads and other facilities.
We have also emphasised the importance of technical education for the younger generation. If we want to industrialise the state, we need to have enough trained workers to achieve our goal. So, this is the basic outline.
Question: How will the Pan Borneo Highway stimulate growth in Sarawak?
Answer: We have observed the spillover effects of the North-South Expressway in the peninsula, where it has opened up greater economic opportunities. That is why I insisted to the prime minister that Sarawak should have a similar facility. Work on the Pan Borneo Highway has begun and will involve nine stretches, including the Sematan-Lundu stretch. This project is on now. Bukan janji omong-omong (empty promises). If the opposition don’t believe it, I will invite them to see, with their own eyes, whether it is true.
Question: Umno and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) are BN parties, but the former has been barred from entering Sarawak. Will it have any political impact in the state?
Answer: Umno has agreed not to come into Sarawak because there is no point to the whole thing. It is in Sarawak in the form of component parties that make up the ruling coalition. Like Umno, all these parties in Sarawak are championing the Bumiputera cause.
And this must be understood — membership in Umno is only open to rumpun Melayu (Malays). I don’t think Bumiputeras (in Sarawak) will accept that they are Malays. They take pride that they are Iban, Bidayuh or Ulu.
If Umno agrees not to come to Sarawak, the other peninsula-based parties must do the same. The opposition, DAP, Pas and PKR, are peninsula-based entities. They wanted us to pass a resolution banning Umno from coming to Sarawak.
We agree, provided Pas, DAP and PKR are also banned because they are from Peninsular Malaysia. Of course they (the opposition) withdrew their intention when we called their bluff.
Question: Issues relating to disputes over Native Customary Right (NCR) land persisted during previous state elections. How do you plan to counter similar allegations in the upcoming polls?
Answer: The state government has been issuing titles under Section 18, which is the conversion of untitled NCR Land into titled land. We have started by declaring areas as native or communal reserves and had them gazetted three years ago. Once a plot of land is gazetted, nobody can dispute its status.
We have also been spending millions of ringgit to conduct land surveys. I think hundreds of hectares of land have been gazetted as NCR and this process will continue. And, I am receptive to the suggestion made by the chief justice of Borneo to set up a land tribunal for NCR land. I look forward to discussing with him how to go about it. These are the measures implemented to protect NCR land, apart from putting a stop to the clearing of land for plantations by private firms.
Question: Do you see an end to disputes involving NCR Land following the move by the state government to pull the plug on illegal logging?
Answer: I do not think we can resolve the issue completely. There were some timber companies with licences to fell timber in a particular area who thought they had control over the land too. This is not the case. I am not giving the land to you. I only gave you the right to fell the timber on the land.
If you look at the facts and figures, the state government has done something to resolve this issue and protect the right of the people. And, if the court rules that it is their right, we do not object. But they must accept the court decision even if they lose the case, just like we accept it when we lose. Sometimes they refuse to accept the decisions.
Question: What is your reaction to comments that you are a strict leader because of your efforts to combat graft?
Answer: Illegal timber felling was widespread like nobody’s business. Some of these companies and individuals fell trees everywhere as if “nenek nya punya” (belongs to their grandmother). I have put a stop to it with raids conducted almost every day. And, I strengthened the Forestry Department and the Forestry Corporation by supplying them with guns and four-wheel-drive vehicles.
The law has also been changed so that the onus of proof is on companies and individuals who were caught with illegal timber.
I want to preserve nature and increase the number of national parks. I want to meet the United Nations requirement of having 10 per cent of the land mass devoted to national parks and animal sanctuaries. So these are the steps that we have taken and I think we have the support of the people on this one.
Question: Why did you abolish the reward system for Forestry enforcement officers since the state government is going all out to stop illegal logging?
Answer: Why do you have to reward them for doing their job? When you are a Forestry officer, it is your job to protect the forest. Why do you give them rewards? It is their job.
Question: Do you receive threats or pressure from illegal logging syndicates?
Answer: It comes with the job. You must stand up to it or otherwise (quit). I am aware of the complaints among Forestry officers, that they are afraid of people sending them polong (black magic), poison and bullets. That is just their way of avoiding responsibility. They cannot do the job because they are afraid.
I told the enforcement officers to tell those who threatened them to send the polong (black magic) to me since I am the one who gave the instructions.
Question: Do you think Sarawak will be rid of illegal land-clearing activities soon?
Answer: I cannot solve the problem completely. However, we must not spare any effort to stop it. I was informed that 36 sawmills have closed following our raids.
Established companies are more careful now about complying with our regulations. The problem, back then, was weak enforcement. The law is there. Like what had happened in Pahang with bauxite mining.
Question: Do you think you have done enough to win the support of the people in the state polls?
Answer: I think, on the basis of what we have done, people will continue to have confidence in us. Two years are not enough to achieve what we set out to do. More needs to be done and this requires more time. That is why I need five more years.