Kota Kinabalu, Aug 19, 2009: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) told the government to get down to the serious work of substantiating its high-sounding slogans to salvage whatever little credibility it has remaining.
“The ‘People First, Performance Now’ slogan is sounding less believable by the day as the people are subject to barrage of empty promises,” said Datuk Richard Yong, the secretary-general of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).
He cited as examples of empty promises the failure of the government in building a new general hospital for Kota Kinabalu City , addressing the perennial power supply disruptions throughout Sabah and the amusing delay in the completion of the intersection in front of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.

“Such foot-dragging simply shows that the government ignores the cries of the people and makes a laughing stock of the promise of putting the people’s interest above everything, and promising of excellence.
Richard said the power supply problem has been plaguing Sabah since time immemorial. But instead of empathizing with the people, government leaders were quick to condemn any demonstration of anger.
“Chief Minister Datuk Musa made another round of promises that the power supply problem will be dealt with, as if it is within his purview to do so.

“Why should we believe that Musa can or will do anything when power supply is entirely the responsibility of Tenaga Nasional? And why should we believe that Tenaga would have a sense of urgency now when it never had any before?

He insisted that the government should back down on its plans to build a coal-fired power plant because of great risks to the environment. Instead, it should seriously explore other mode of power generation, and reverse its decision to allow Petronas to pipe natural gas from Sabah to Bintulu (in Sarawak) and use the gas to power new power stations in Sabah .

On the need for a new general hospital in the state capital, Richard described as ‘amazing’ how both state and government leaders are still dragging their feet since the Queen Elizabeth Hospital had half of its facilities and services disabled more than nine months ago.

“People don’t stop needing hospital services because one hospital is closed. Why can’t the government use its might like it did so frequently spending millions for so-called fast-track projects to put up a new hospital for the people of Sabah?
“If the government fails to do anything soon, it will go down Malaysian history as the state whose people survive the longest period without a general hospital.

“If they don’t do anything about the power supply, we will be elevated from being the state with the most atrocious power supply record to being a world record-holder, worse than some strife-torn African states and some banana republics in Latin America!

He said the continued delay in the completion of upgrading works on the intersection in front of the QEH is amusing because even the project owner, that is the Public Works Department, had expressed dismay over the snail’s pace with which the works have been progressing.
He alleged that thousands of motorists have been enduring the congestion and inconveniences caused by the half-finished intersection, which is a major gateway into and out of the KK City.
“Ordinarily a project delay can be tolerated by the people, but the slowness of this relatively simple project flies in the face of all the promises of People First and Performance Now.

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600-strong Sandakan environ walk

Kan Yaw Chong

KOTA KINABALU: Six hundred people of diverse backgrounds joined the first ever Sandakan “Walk for the Environment ” themed “Unite Against Climate Change”, Sunday.

Sandakan Municipal Council President, Dr James Wong, flagged off and joined the 4km walk which started at the Town Padang and went through the town centre leading to the coastal Sim Sim Road, back to the town centre and ended at the Town Padang.

Leading the pack included former Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly Datuk Seri Panglima Hassan Alban Sandukong, his wheel chaired wife Datin Nuri and a slew of NGO and community leaders, including Au Kam Wah, State Assemblyman for Elopura, and Chong Hon Min, former Independent Member of Parliament for Sandakan.

“This is a historic event”‘ said Charles Chow, Chairman of the Sandakan Pro-Tem Committee which organized the event.

He noted the “obvious unity” of all races and strata of society against climate change and thanked the police, the Council President, his committee members and the public for their support.

SEPA (Sabah Environment Protection Association) President, Wong Tack, said the extraordinary spirit of the Sandakan community to protect the future of their children and to ensure Sabah always remains green is worth emulating.

Charles, meanwhile, attributed the zestful turnout to concern and awareness as a result of wide coverage in the local dailies, FM Sandakan, distribution of flyers and by word of mouth.

Charles had earlier said relevance of the walk, citing how every Malaysian as well as foreign visitor ranging from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan have complained about the sweltering heat waves of late.

“Recent records and observation has shown carbon dioxide buildup to 450 parts per million (ppmV) globally while a study on surface temperatures in major towns across Malaysia carried out by professors at UKM had registered an alarming increase by 3.5 degrees Celsius,” Charles citied.

“This reflects abnormal variations to the expected climate within the earth’s atmosphere,” he said.  “I was in Kuala Lumpur recently and my watch with a temperature meter recorded 36 degrees Celsius while normal maximum in the past was about 33 degrees,” be said.

“There is much economic advantage to stimulate investment for the mitigation of local greenhouse gas emissions,” Charles suggested.

“We should therefore seriously look into these mitigation measures,” he added, citing the need to change everyday lifestyle, behavior, the adoption of energy efficient technologies, government rewards and incentives to industries for green initiatives, reduction of greenhouse emissions to raise air quality and health, investment in future energy capital with the environment in mind and strong emphasis on green technology, energy efficient buildings and encourage agricultural practices that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stress the protection of Sabah’s rainforests as a powerful mitigation factor,” he said.

He said it was “essential” to raise awareness on emission reduction at all levels of society.  “This is what the SEPA Sandakan effort is all about,” he pointed out, citing how the florescent bulb use 65 per cent less energy than filament bulb and a host of other potential actions that will make the difference, according to him.

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