Sarawak Election 2006: Grab the Chance for Change
The Ninth Sarawak State Election is approaching. Nomination has taken place last Tuesday, seeing all seats apart from 2 being contested.
Keadilan, Sarawak National Party (SNAP) and Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) have formed a Sarawak Solidarity Front (BBS). Thanks to an election pact, BBS components and DAP will not fight against each other, as disclosed by Wan Zainal, Keadilan Sarawak Liaison Chief in a press conference that I’ve attended, on Dec 23, 2005 in Hotel Istana, KL, on the sideline of 2nd Keadilan National Congress.
Meanwhile, Pas is also given a seat to contest in Beting Maro, and surely we must thank them for saving Keadilan from one more defeat. Maybe we don’t need to go that far, but a blogger just told me, “Hope they hilang deposit!”
So what’s the focus for this election? When we asked ourselves the same question prior to Pengkalan Pasir by-election last year, I knew what we want. We have to defend Malaysia’s only non-BN state government, which was a difficult challenge, given Pas’ mediocre track record, but we wanted to choose the lesser evil, and the keyword was “Democracy”. What about this time?
Sarawak politic is a battle without ideology. For ages we’ve seen BN legislators of different camps, usually divided along ethnic lines, fighting against each other for larger share of cake, in the forms of government construction contract or logging consessions, among others. The Ming Court Power Struggle Affair had nothing to do with democracy, mind you.
One case in point is the construction of a new State Legislative Assembly in Petrajaya. Let’s quote from The Edge Daily’s news, Bina Puri secures RM230m S’wak state assembly complex job directly,
Bina Puri Holdings Bhd is believed to have clinched a RM230 million sub-contract for the construction of the proposed Sarawak state assembly complex in Petra Jaya, Kuching.For those uninitiated, Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), formerly Cement Manufacturers Sarawak, which also owns the tiny Bank Utama that took over nation’s third biggest bank, Rashid Hussein Bank (RHB), is belonged to…, very obvious, right ? CMS, CMS, CMS, Chief Minister of… Sarawak, YAB Pehin Sri Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi Dr. Hj Abdul Taib Bin Mahmud.The main contract of RM296.50 million had been awarded to Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd’s (CMS) 51% subsidiary PPES Works (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and its joint-venture (JV) partner Naim Cendera Holdings Bhd.
Naim Cendera, on the other hand, is belonged to Taib Mahmud’s cousins, Datuk Hasmi Hasnan dan Datuk Hamid Sepawi. So CM awarded the project to CMS-Naim joint venture for RM296.5 million, and in seconds, they paid Bina Puri RM230 million to complete the job for them, so the difference of RM66.5 million goes to ? It doesn’t need a missle scientist to tell. To find out more cronies, check out Malaysia-Today’s Sarawak milik Taib, keluarga dan rakan-rakan.
Development is BN’s selling point. Every time I pass by the winding Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP) with sharp curve every 500 metre, or the unintegrated Masjid Jamek LRT stations with one elevated and another underground, the numerous empty and abandoned new primary schools, or read in paper about the new home for virus - Hospital Sultan Ismail in Johor Bahru, or news about aborigines displaced for construction of dams yet our tap water is still brownish, I wonder, if these are the type of development we need.
To show how “politics of development” works, let’s illustrate the case facing Kampung Pinang Jawa Ujung. Located in the heart of metro Kuching, it is still deprived of water supply, even the pipes were all ready. What the government wants is simple, return the corrupt regime to power, else you will continue to live without water. Is this the kind of government that we wish to have in a free and fair society ?
Native Customs Rights (NCR) Land is another focal point. The land belonged to natives, where they can sustain their living by farming, hunting or logging. However, in the name of development, the government set up joint ventures comprising the natives and crony companies for plantation, in which the natives are often denied the already low profit of 30%. Why would anyone need this kind of development, unless you are the crony ?
Why in a state with rich oil and gas deposit, there are still many wide rivers only crossable with old and dangerous ferries ? George Chan Hong Nam the Deputy Chief Minister claimed that it was Anwar who rejected the request for an increment in oil royalty, so I supposed, after Anwar the stumbling block was sacked from government, everything becomes much rosier ?
We have been talking about bread and butter issues and haven’t got into human rights and democracy yet, but I guess it’s already sufficient to distinguish the evils from the rest. I am not sure if banking on seasoned politicians is the way forward though, but surely they are better than this Tunku’s contemporary who overstayed his welcome and ran the state as his own fiefdom and his cronies. To dismantle the network of patronage and corruption, regime change is the only way. And I believe this is exactly the sentiment that is boiling on the ground.
Let’s hope the voters will make a bright decision come this May 20th, 2006. Feel free to visit Keadilan’s dedicated Sarawak website for more stories. Salam Reformasi!
Reference
Sarawak milik Taib, keluarga dan rakan-rakan
Sarawak Native Customary Land Rights Network (TAHABAS) Press Statement
The ‘Politics of Development’: To Deprive Kuchingites of Water 国阵“发展政治”之下，古晋巧妇难为无水之炊
