The people of Sarawak and Sabah were promised
progress and development at least to the level achieved by the
peninsular states. Have these promises been fulfilled in the past five
decades?
KUCHING:
DAP’s veteran leader Lim Kit Siang has called on the government to set
up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to assess whether the dreams of
Sarawakians and Sabahans in forming Malaysia have been fulfilled or
betrayed in the past five decades to make Sarawak’s 50th Malaysia Day
truly historic and meaningful.
“I will make such a proposal for the third time in the forthcoming Parliament beginning next week.
“Will Sarawak and Sabah MPs whether BN or Pakatan Rakyat, give it unanimous support?” Lim asked.
The Ipoh Timur MP was addressing a large gathering at Chonglin Park
in Kuching on Sunday to celebrate Pakatan’s 49th Malaysia Day
celebration.
“If BN is confident that it has a great record of ‘Janji Ditepati’ in
Sarawak and Sabah 49 years after the formation of Malaysia, the BN
government would have fully exploited the opportunity to showcase its
‘Jangi Ditepati’ achievements and accept my proposal for the
establishment of an RCI to assess whether the dreams and aspirations of
Sarawakians and Sabahans in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or
betrayed in the past five decades.
“I specifically made this proposal in Parliament during the debate on
the Royal Address for two consecutive years in March 2010 and March
2011, but there was no support not only from the Barisan Nasional
government but also zero support from the BN MPs from Sarawak and Sabah.
“I made this proposal for an RCI as far back as 2010 because this
will be a most meaningful way to prepare for the 50th anniversary of
Malaysia Day in 2013, putting all the shortfalls and failures of the
deal promises of constitutional safeguards and development progress in
the two states in proper perspective and in the forefront of the
national agenda,” he said.
Before Malaysia was formed in 1963, a Cobbold Commission conducted a
fact-finding survey of the people of Sarawak and Sabah for their views
as to whether the new nation should be established out of the federation
of Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore with Malaya.
Numerous fact-finding tours were also organised at that time to send
Sarawak and Sabah leaders to Malaya to see for themselves the benefits
and developments Sarawak and Sabah would enjoy if they agree to the
establishment of Malaysia.
“It was preciously on the dual promises of the constitutional
safeguards for Sarawak (the 18 points) and Sabah (20 points) and the
material and development rewards the two states would enjoy that the new
Malaysian nation was formed in 1963.
“Let there be a national debate and soul searching as to how the two
richest states in Malaysia have been reduced in five decades to be among
the poorest and most inequitable states in the federation,” he said.
Seeking support in Parliament
According to the official statistics from the 2009 National Household
Income Survey Report, Sabah’s incidence of poverty overall was the
highest at 19.7%, while Sarawak came third with 5.3%.
For the incidence of rural poverty, Sabah was again the highest at 32.8%. Sarawak came second at 8.4%.
“The people of Sarawak and Sabah were promised progress and development at least to the level achieved by the peninsular states.
“Have these promises to the two states been fulfilled in the past five decades? The answers must be a loud No.
“Where have all the wealth of Sabah and Sarawak gone to in the past
decades?” he asked, pointing out that after the five decades, many in
the interiors of the two states even lacked the most basic
infrastructures to be found in the rest of Malaysia, like regular
electricity supply, uninterrupted piped water and good roads and bridges
as well as the most basic of health and educational facilities.
“I call upon Sarawak and Sabah MPs to support my call for the setting up of RCI in Parliament next week,” Lim said.
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