NABAWAN: Political stability has allowed the Barisan Nasional government bring about progress across the country including rural areas where its people yearn for more development.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he understands the needs of the people and gets constant reports from State leaders such as Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman as well as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup who make frequent requests to the central leadership.
Najib said the BN government could lay out plans and deliver promises made to the people because of the cohesive ties between the State and Federal leadership, brought about by political stability.
He said this in a gathering with the people at the Nabawan Square where thousands, mostly from the Murut community, had arrived the from sub-districts such as Pagalungan, Sook and Pensiangan.
Constant cheers from the partisan crowd also prompted Najib to make a rallying call in Murut, “onsoi BN”, which means “awesome BN”, and reminder to support the ruling coalition to ensure continued progress.
“People should not take for granted the peace and political stability that has allowed the country to prosper over the years,” he said in the gathering where Musa, Kurup and other State and Federal leaders as well as senior government officers were also present.
"I recently visited a country that had gained independence earlier than Malaysia but its wealth was just one-third of Malaysia’s,” he said, adding that the country had been embroiled in civil strife and there was no political stability.
"If we have a situation where the people are in conflict with one another or there is no political stability, the country will not progress,” he said and assured the government will not neglect the needs of the people.
“The BN government does not make empty promises unlike the opposition,” Najib said and pointed out the opposition were also not reliable as they are not even able to keep promises made among themselves.
The opposition was also desperate and had recently proposed “a 93-year-old man” to be its Prime Minister, he said in rerence to Pakatan Harapan that had named Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the post should the opposition form the government in the 14th General Election.
In the gathering Najib had also announced that the next phase of the Pan Borneo Highway will include the district here which borders Keningau and Kalabakan and is located about 180km from Kota Kinabalu.
Najib, who had earlier launched Nabawan Health Clinic also announced an allocation of RM3 million to build low cost housing and a haemodialysis centre.
Musa in his speech at the gathering said the Prime Minister has his pulse on the voice of the people and the leaders at the State level.
“This is why I view the State and Federal ties to be important because we can relay our needs and issues directly. The BN government has brought much progress to the state and has been supportive to the many initiatives we took,” he said.
The health clinic was one clear example as it would be able to serve some 34,000 in the surrounding areas and given that the nearest hospital was about 70km away in Keningau, he added.
“Allocations for the housing and the State government’s Mini Estet Sejahtera (Mesej) programme too has helped many communities improve their lives,” Musa said.