KUCHING, Dec 28: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) president Bobby William today claimed that Dayak leaders in the present government have failed the community in all aspects of human development.
“A multi-racial party doesn’t do enough for the Dayaks. In multi-racial parties, the Dayaks are being used to add up to the numbers only. And the voices of Dayak leaders are diluted and the struggle of the Dayaks are being put at lesser priority,” Bobby said here today.
He alleged that even though the Dayaks are the majority in Sarawak, they are being discriminated against.
“Being the majority, the Dayaks have been discriminated in many opportunities. The highest incidence of poverty is in Sarawak are among the Dayaks. The Dayaks continue to experience lack of basic needs.
“Therefore, the Dayaks must stand up and be frontliners; your future is in your own hands and do not let your future be in the hands of irresponsible politicians who just make use of your votes that put them as Yang Berhormat,” he said.
As such he hoped that young Dayaks who aspire to be future leaders would join the party.
“PBDS provides the opportunity and the best platform to build human capital development as an apprentice for future leaders of the Dayaks.
“PBDS also understands that if the Dayaks are left behind in whatever form of development, it should not blame the non-Dayaks.
“This is because current Dayak leaders that we voted for in the government have failed to address Dayak issues. Meritocracy is just on paper and our leaders in the government haven’t spoken loud enough,” he claimed.
As such, Bobby admitted that PBDS is a Dayak-based political party and urged all the Dayaks to join it.
“PBDS opines that the Dayaks can not progress in businesses if opportunities are being restrained (sic).
“Therefore, land titles should be directly given to all Dayak landowners without going through too much bureaucracy which prevents the Dayaks from becoming rich. Some are saying the Dayaks will sell their land if their land is to be given titles, (which) is just political propaganda which is just a gimmick to protect the interest of the government,” he added.
He also urged young Dayaks to be more aggressive in upgrading their skills and not to rely too much on government assistance.
“We hoped that 2021 would be a year for all Malaysians with every ethnic group being represented in politics, education and economy.
“And last but not least, PBDS will continue to pursue the Dayak Agenda in this country,” he added. — DayakDaily
