Kota Kinabalu: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate for Moyog, Marcel Annol
(pic) fully understands the dilemma of frequent flood-related issues in Penampang.
“Floods has been a perennial problem in Penampang for years. Just 20 minutes of heavy rain and the road in my village will become a river,” said the 63-year-old from Kg Kibabaig, an area well known for being prone to flash floods in the district.
“Sometimes during floods, we see people rushing to salvage their belongings, the elderly and the sickly having to carry their things to higher ground.
“There have been times when my wife and I went out of our way to buy rice for those stranded due to routes leading to their houses being cut off by floods,” said Annol who was with the Kibabaig Village Security and Development Committee from 2016 to 2018.
He said for many years, they have pleaded for the Wakil Rakyats to address the issue, even to the point of him coming up with a blueprint to solve the problem and presenting it to those concerned to no avail.
The recent flooding in Penampang.
“Years gone by, politicians and governments come and go without addressing the problem. The floods just tears away everything, it draws away investors, also destroys not only properties but also the health of the people, disrupts education and breaks the connectivity.
“Thus, I see that my participation in this election will give me a great opportunity to better serve the people if given the mandate to address this correctly in the government,” he said.
Annol faces a seven-cornered fight against Warisan’s Datuk Darell Leiking, PCS’ Datuk William Sampil, PN’s Joe Suleiman, PPRS’ Vinson Loijon, PBS’ John Chryso Masabal and independent Robert Richard Foo.
Annol believes that he can draw some river specialists from different parts of the world that have proven answers to the problem.
“I have the answer to the problem in my hands and I am very clear with what I am coming in for in this election. I think I can serve and give the answer for Moyog because I have seen and worked under some of the candidates before.
“It was me who has been actually finding for the answer, I presented them with the answers but they did not manage to translate them into a solution,” he said.
He admits that no one can stop the flood, but there are technologies which can be applied to work with nature and not against it.
“No one can stop the flood but there is a way to address it because we have technologies now across the globe that we can apply here,” he said.
In addition to the floods, he is also looking into addressing traffic congestion especially in Donggongon.
“That is one of the things the community has been complaining about. If God willing for us to be in the government, I plan to propose to decentralise small towns, to open up other regions of Moyog that will open up a better avenue to participation of investment and to also introduce economic reforms to come into the region,” he said.
Moyog, he said, has been lagging behind compared to other constituency“We cannot plan further unless the flood issue is addressed more comprehensively,” he said, adding that he also intends to address hill cutting which is among factors contributing to floods and mudslides.
On why he thinks people should vote for him, he said “I believe I am bringing the answers to them, I am not giving them suggestions but I am coming in as an answer.
“Give me the chance to be the voice of Moyog and I promise to serve them better,” he said.
