statement after statements have been issued by NGOs on the issues of wild life and conservation, creating fear and tantamount to preservation of poverty and maintaining backwards among the rural people of Sabah.
NGOs are saying that Sabah cannot build roads or clear jungle for planting of Ubi Kayu (tapioca), simply because the jungle must be preserved at all costs even at the expense of poverty and backwardness.
These NGOs mostly created by “Orang Putih” are seemingly participated by locals. These locals are carried away by these “Orang Putih” who came to under-developed countries such as Sabah, to look for something to do, earn a living.
Their aims and objectives are to ensure the rural people of Sabah remain as they are and poor all their life.
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David Lee in his writings criticised the NGOs for their objections on any economic developments that Sabahans wanted to carry out in order to change their life for the better. David argued to proceed with government programmes to develop Sabah and ignore the objection by the NGOs.
David in short was repeating what was said by late Datuk Lim Keng Yaik in 1990s. Do Sabahans want “gold or monkey”? Surely Sabahans who are still far from normal human beings standard just want to be like those people living like in London or Singapore.
NGOs must acknowledge that Sabah has Forest Reserve of 60pc of the total area of Sabah. The proposed development of so-called Pan Borneo Highway will only remove a very small fraction of the forests. Furthermore, 80pc of the proposed highways are only improvements of existing highways.
These include the Penampang-Papar dual carriageway and the Tawau-Semporna Dual carriageway. Both these dual carriageways started some 4 years ago and look like require another 2 to 4 years before they can be completed.
Of course, subject to funds from the Federal Government. Whatever area of forests to be removed Sabah needs a Dual Carriageway right from Sipitang (Sarawak boarder) to Tawau – a distance of 600km. The amount of traffic on these roads between Sipitang and Tawau is very heavy indeed. The need for dual carriageway is urgent.
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To complete these messages to NGOs, it is necessary to compare Singapore with Tambunan, Singapore is full of concrete forests. There is not a single monkey. The annual per capita income of Singapore is RM228,000 (US$57,000).
Tambunan is covered almost 80pc with forests and have monkeys and other animals. However, the annual per capita income of Tambunan is hardly around RM12,000 (US$3,000). The only difference between Singapore and Tambunan are figures, Singapore is individual earnings whereas Tambunan is “pension receipts”. These pension receipts are the money sent by their children working in Malaya. These children send part of their salary to their parents monthly.
A very important issue for NGOs to consider seriously is that Tambunan can be economically developed for its people to have an annual per capita of RM100,000 (US$25,000). However, this proposal needs the removing of 50pc of Tambunan Forests for the planting of Bamboo which grow naturally and wildly in Tambunan. Alienate 10 acres of land to each family.
This 10 acres will give annual income after 5 years around RM500,000 and the bamboo can be replanted again and again every 5 years.
With RM500,000 an annual or RM40,000 per month and permanently and sustainably Tambunan people will have decent living – a 3 bedroom concrete house or apartment, 2 cars, 2 handphones and all the electronic gazettes of modern living.
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This proposal also will prepare Tambunan parents for the “equal rights” within the 3 partnerships.
Malaya may also introduce equal Immigration Control. The few hundred thousand Sabahans working at Malaya must return to Sabah. There would be no more pensions. Sabah-based NGOs should move their activities to London or New York and try to create more forest and monkeys there.