Tuesday 30th Oct 2007 - Sure win for Sabah BN

Musa says Sabahans will support the party that can bring development to them

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) will have no problem winning the coming general election, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

He said Sabahans were matured enough to evaluate which party truly cared for their welfare and could bring development to the State.

“The rakyat nowadays are not like in the past. They are able to evaluate which party they should support and could bring development to Sabah,” Musa said in his speech at the SAPP open house held at the Kampung Likas multi-purpose hall on Sunday night.

Musa, who is also the State Barisan Nasional chairman, said that the vision of Umno, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and other party components in the BN was to bring development to the State and make sure all the people would benefit from progress in the State.

He urged the relevant authorities to make sure every project planned for the people could be implemented according to schedule.

He said the allocation given to Sabah in the Ninth Malaysia Plan involving RM20.8 billion should be used wisely so that development could be brought to the people, and thus enhanced their standard of living.

Meanwhile, Musa also voiced happiness that the people were living in harmony and unity.

“Even though we are from different cultures, races and religions, we are still able to celebrate the cultural events in a harmonious way.

“People who come to Sabah have praised the Sabahans’ attitudes for willing to understand each other. And tonight is the evidence of our unity,” he said, at the same time urging all the people to maintain the harmonious relationship.Meanwhile, Musa congratulated SAPP president Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee for receiving the Seri Panglima Darjah Kinabalu (SPDK) from the Head of State Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah in conjunction with his 61st birthday recently.

He said that Yong was a good leader who was not selfish and wanted to see the development of Sabah.

Tuesday 30th Oct 2007 - Information and resource centre for urban poor launched

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has been chosen for the implementation of a pioneer project known as Pusat Sejahtera, a one-stop information and resource centre for people in urban areas who are still living in poverty.

Deputy Federal Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said at the launch of the Pusat Sejahtera for the Kota Kinabalu City Hall here yesterday, that a similar facility would be set up in Sandakan and Tawau.

She said the government had allocated RM50,000 for each local authority to set up the office, which would be manned by a coordinating officer and two part-time administrative assistants.


“The setting up of the Pusat Sejahtera and other projects under the Urban Poverty Eradication Programme is aimed at achieving the goal set by the government to eradicate abject poverty and bring down the poverty rate in the country to 2.8 per cent by 2010,” said Azizah.

Some 250 poor families from Sepanggar attended the event held at Taman Jaya Diri in Sepanggar.

Azizah said the poor families identified in the urban areas would be provided with government assistance under the Urban Poverty Eradication Programme.
She said the Pusat Sejahtera would serve as a reference and resource centre for the urban poor to make inquiries, lodge reports and get counselling services about the various types of government’s assistances.

“The coordinating officer and the two assistants are entrusted with the task of registering and updating the profile of poor families and in giving out government’s assistance,” said Azizah.

Tuesday 30th Oct 2007- Limestone caves will attract visitors to Kudat

KUDAT: Over 20 limestone caves exist on Balambangan Island which is located in the proposed run Mustapha Park in the Kudat-Banggi area.

With archaeological findings which date back to the Pleistocene (Pleisto - most; cene - recent) era The Ice Age between 1.75 million to 11,000 years ago), and intriguing chambers and Limestone formations, the caves have the potential to attract both Local and foreign visitors to Kudat. This was stated by Mr Ludi Apin, Park Manager of Sabah Parks, who gave a talk on conservation programmes in Sabah during a recent seminar on Conservation of Natural Resources at the State Library Branch in Kudat.

The importance of the caves was highlighted during a recent Familiarisation trip by Land and Survey Department Director Datuk Haji Osman Jamal. During the trip led by WWF-Malaysia’s Chief Technical Officer Dr Rahimatsah Amat and Sabah Parks Director Paul Basintal, the beauty of the caves and its potential as an cotourism site was discussed.

Osman has pledged his support:towards the gazetting of the proposed Tun Mustapha Park, which includes Balambangan Island. Artifacts estimated to be 16,000 years old which were found by researchers from the Malaysian archaeo1ogical Research Centre (PPAM) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in August 1997 highlight the importance of Balambangan Island. The find included bones and 36 items made out of animal bones believed to be tools used in the Pleistocene era.

Tuesday 30th Oct 2007 - Award of contracts to be balanced for both systems: CM

KOTA KINABALU: The number of Government contracts to be awarded through direct negotiations will be balanced with those awarded through open tender, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Musa in responding to the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) suggestion that the use of direct negotiations in awarding of Government projects should be reduced, said the State Government is in fact currently practicing open tender except for projects that need to be completed urgently.

The problem with the open tender is that sometimes it takes a long time but sometimes we need certain projects to be completed as soon as possible. We will use the open tender system wherever we can,” said Musa.

The PAC earlier this month proposed that the number of Government contracts being awarded through direct negotiations be reduced except for those requiring specific expertise.

Its chairman, Datuk ShahnirAbdul Samad, said this was to avoid problems such as financial irregularities arising from the poor monitoring of projects.


Musa who was met after the Federal Departments Han Rays Open House here yesterday, said steps would be taken by the Government to ensure that the direct negotiations method would not be misused by the related parties for their own benefit.

“We will make sure that it will not be misused by certain parties, for instance to increase prices. We will do this from time to time to control the prices from going too high,” he said.

Musa, who is also the State Finance Minister, said the State Government would also list all Government contracts which had been rewarded through direct negotiations under the Ninth Malaysian Plan as proposed by
PAC.

Tuesday 30th Oct 2007 - It’s strategic secret: Pairin

PBS President declines to disclose whether party will field new faces

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) President Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan is keeping it a secret whether the party will field any new faces in the next general election.

Pairin in a quick reply to the question posed by reporters yesterday, said: “That’s my secret”.

“We haven’t discussed about it yet. As it is always the case, you ask me the same question every election.

“You know, overall our strategy is to field the same people, but under certain circumstances wherever it is necessary, of course there will always be some changes.

“At this point of time that is all I can say. I cannot say what I am going to do, because it is a strategic secret at the moment,” he said.

Pairin told reporters this after officiating the joint annual general meeting of the party’s Youth and Women wings held at the Hongkod Koisaan Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA) building here yesterday.

When asked about the BN Convention where a component patty is not allowed to field the same person in both state and parliamentary constituencies, Pairin said, “We don’t know about the statement and it can be subjected to certain changes. Election will be as it is and what is important is that we all face the election.”

Pairin, who is also the ‘Huguan Siou’ or paramount leader of the Kadazandusun community, was confident the Barisan Nasional (BN) would secure a convincing victory in the next general election.

PBS holds four parliamentary and 13 seats in the State Legislative Assembly.

The PBS Congress is scheduled for November 11 and is expected to be opened by Abdullah, who is also the BN chairman.

Pairin meanwhile called on Sabahans to rally behind the BN in the next general election to ensure continued development.

He said under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the BN has shown its full commitment and capability in championing the cause of the people.

He said the present Government’s noble intention is to develop the nation and deliver the goods to the people as can be seen in the big allocation for development under the Ninth Malaysian Plan(9MP) and the 2008 Budget.

“Of course, this is in tandem with “There might be some weaknesses the aspirations of the PBS to champion here and there but the Government is the rights of the people. We are aware obviously trying its level best to meet of the BN Government’s sincerity in the expectations of the people,” he bringing about development for the said.

Tuesday 30th Oct 2007 - Man and two wives killed

SEMPORNA: A 51-year-old man who lost control of his vehicle was killed along with his two wives in an accident on Saturday at Kilometer 34 of the Semporna-Kunak Road.

District Police Chief DSP Mohd Azim Khan Abdullah said the victim, Asman Tajal who worked as a driver with the Tawau Water Department and his two wives were killed on the spot.

All three were thrown out from the Isuzu Invader in the accident that
occurred at about 12 noon.

Asman’s first wife was identified as Norhayati Karim, 48, while his second wife, was Siti Arrai bte Abd Haning, 29.

Mohd Azim said they were traveling from Kunak towards Semporna when the vehicle veered off the road at a corner.

Travelling with them were their three children, Sahida Asnian, 3,
Narelinah Asman, 13, and Lokman Asman, 18. They suffered injuries

Tuesday 30th October 2007 - SAPP assures of undivided support of Musa’s leadership

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) fully supports Datuk Seri Musa Aman as Sabah Chief Minister and State Barisan Nasional chairman in bringing development to the people.

Its president Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee said under the leadership of Musa, the political situation in the State was stable with people living in harmony and unity.

“What we have seen today is unity and harmony, and this is what has been practised under his leadership,” said Yong during the SAPP open house held at Kampung Likas multi-purpose hall here on Sunday night.

He also said that SAPP would continue to work hard to enhance the people’s economy and standard of living.

“We will also work hard together, with the other parties in the Barisan Nasional (BN), to ensure that we win the coming general election,” Yong added, at the same time urging all the people to put aside any disputes in order to stand together in unity.

Meanwhile, the SAPP president also said that the party also accepted cultural diversity as it was an asset of our multi-cultural country in the global village that was accepted by the people.

“Many aspects of life show our harmony in cultural diversity such as the practice of open houses by the various communities. At cultural events like tonight, our multi-racial people celebrate together,” he said.

He said one popular way of celebrating the cultural events was the community dancing and also the line dancing.

“Line dancing is a community activity bringing people of all ages and race together,” he said.

He further said line dancing such as ‘Poco-poco’ dance was popular in Malaysia and had become a community cultural dance performed by all the races.

“I sense that the negative feelings over the Poco-poco dance have got something to do with the underlying uneasiness of some locals over the perceived influence of imported cultures. I feel that the dance is only an activity, which does not distort our culture in any way,” Yong added.

Thousands of people attended the open house. Also present were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, Assistant Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Melanie Chia Chui Ket, Sepanggar Member of Parliament Datuk Eric Majimbun and Mayor Datuk Iliyas Ibrahim.