By Roslan Mutu
KUCHING, Nov 15: There has been no development taking place Ba’Kelalan in the last ten years since is has been under the Opposition, said Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) secretary-general and Ba’Kelalan chairman Datuk Nelson Balang Rining.
As such he urged fellow voters in the area to abandon the opposition especially Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) candidate Baru Bian who has been in the Opposition for over a decade but has not brought any development to Ba’Kelalan.
“The argument by the Opposition that the people in Opposition-held areas struggle for government funding does not hold water. This is because when the government wants to plan something for the Opposition-held areas, the elected representative(s) will always oppose whatever that has been plan. As such the people will continue to suffer,” Balang said today.
He added that even when Baru was a Federal Minister of Works during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) 22-month reign, he did not bring any development to Ba’Kelalan.
“And now after he jumped from PKR to PSB, there is not much hope for the people of Ba’Kelalan as he is still in the Opposition even if he wins in this general election.
“So I would like urged our people of Ba’Kelalan to rally behind GPS candidate Datuk Henry Sum Agong instead, so that we can have better access to development funding,” said Balang, who was the former assemblyman of Ba’Kelalan.
Balang said since Ba’Kelalan has been under the Opposition, it has lacked basic amenities such as road, electricity and water.
He further elaborated that GPS has a clear vision for the future of the constituents and for Sarawak as a whole.
Meanwhile, Balang is confident that incumbent Deputy Minister of Transport Henry Sum Agong will be able to retain Lawas for GPS as it is a PBB stronghold due to the presence of PBB deputy president Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan who is Bukit Sari assemblyman.
“Under Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, he has been able to bring so much development to Lawas only to the envy of the people of Ba’Kelalan,” added Balang.
In the 15th General Election, Henry is facing Baru and Japar Suyut of PKR. In the last general election, he won the seat in a straight fight with a majority of 6,000 votes.P222
Lawas consists of Ba’Kelalan and Bukit Sari. — DayakDaily
