Sabah's road network is appalling: NGO
Published on: Saturday, September 05, 2015
Tawau: Bajau Bumiputera Semporna Sabah Association (Perbubas) has urged the Federal Government to pay more attention to the road network in Sabah as the conditions do not reflect the State's 52 years of independence.Its President, Mansor Santiri, said the Federal Government should build roads connecting the districts in Sabah, such as Kota Kinabalu-Sandakan, Sandakan- Semporna and Semporna-Tawau which are urgently needed."The Federal Government should look into this matter seriously as Sabah deserves better amenities, especially since Petronas took our natural resources on June 14, 1976 during the era of former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh," he said. He said there are still much to be done in Sabah with 70 per cent of its basic facilities needing improvements.
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"Five years from now (2020), Malaysia will become a developed nation but the roads in Sabah are still filled with potholes. There is no communication link at Kalabakan Road and towns such as Semporna are still in darkness."This situation shouldn't happen to a State that has enjoyed 52 years of independence. Locals should already be enjoying basic amenities like those in developed countries," he added.As such, Mansor urged the Federal Government to facilitate its actions on the memorandum on claiming Sabahans' rights according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and also on the oil royalty issue.
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He stressed that the memorandum, where the committee led by Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has been submitted to the Prime Minister, should be facilitated before the 14th General Elections because Sabah is one of the contributors for Barisan Nasional's victory."Please pay the 'interest' on the fixed deposit with development for Sabah, such as building quality road networks," he said.
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Perbubas also supports Jeffrey's effort and called the people of Sabah irrespective of race, religion and political factions to support him.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Mansor said he was one of the participants at a forum organised by the Foreign Ministry and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in March which disclosed that Petronas should have paid RM100 billion to Sabah based on the 10 per cent calculation since 1976.Petronas, he said, should have paid 10 per cent of the oil revenue each year to Sabah, while the five per cent paid now is only a consolatory payout.