Sabah will be duly rewarded, vows PM

Yeah rite! If you believe this, then you must still believe in the tooth fairy! Wait all you want for that vow to be fulfilled, and I can assure you that you will wait till kingdom come!

The title above was a headline in a Sabah daily yesterday which among others also reported that the PM also gave assurance to look into issues related to illegal aliens, giving more ministerial posts to Sabahan MPs, illegal MyKad, street kids, JPPS, borneonisation of federal departments, poverty, etc. Bold headline indeed: Sabah will be duly rewarded. You think?! Any reader with a pea brain could already see the vagueness of the PM's statements and emptiness of his vows.

And that's exactly what the opposition, a VP of PKR, said today, that "... the PM's visit to Sabah was a total disappointment. He did not bring anything solid from Kuala Lumpur, and gave all sorts of vague statements and promises."

Each and every issue highlighted by the BN reps who came to consult PM last Monday, all of them, are old issues. Nothing new, some are as old as Malaysia itself. And, correct me if I'm wrong, is it not BN who has been ruling Sabah since the mid-nineties? How come these same-old, same-old issues continue to remain unresolved and have to be brought over and over and over again to the attention of the Prime Minister? Is he hearing these for the first time in his life? Didn't the State BN Government has had ample time to mend Sabah's problems with the help of big BN?

Headlined yesterday, too, was that the Jabatan Pembangunan Persekutuan Sabah (JPPS) might close shop. The JPPS was set up way back when PBS (now, a BN component) ruled Sabah as an opposition (1985-1994 thereabouts) as a means of channeling federal funds directly to the development projects without having to go through the State government coffers. Then BN came in and ruled Sabah after 1994. Somehow, NOBODY in the State or Federal Government relised how redundant the JPPS has become since 1994 to the present day. It is just mind-boggling how it took the State and Federal BN 14 years to realise how stupid this JPPS arrangement has become, save for certain quarters, of course. JPPS have been deciding and acting on its own where development projects are concern. Even past state MPs have questioned why JPPS never consulted local representatives and authorities in many development projects. Cases in point were the many RM15 million schools build in the middle of nowhere throughout the State, in areas where there are not enough student population. Many of these schools are empty or near-empty. The JPPS when they build these schools think they are too smart to consult the local reps and authorities. No Sabahan is stupid as to not see that JPPS just build for the sake of building, to disburse the funds and enrich a few. Not surprising, a PKR member today (DE, p. 3) claimed that "JPPS had also flourished corruption in Sabah.... I call on the authorities concerned to investigate all Federal-funded projects implemented through JPPS." This same member pointed out that "JPPS caused overlapping of duties to several State departments which was probably why a simple flyover in Kota Kinabalu took six years to be implemented."

JPPS has been in Sabah for about 20 years. It doesn't look like it is ready to close shop. It is already deeply entrenched within the underground halls and dark spaces where fattened contractors and well-fed government servants negotiate and roam. Imagine, if you may, a cancer growing and and flourishing in a human body for 20 long years. Imagine how obnoxious and abhorrent that cancer would look today. You cut away the cancer, not sure whether the host will live. So are we still surprise that JPPS is very much alive, fat and kicking even as we speak? You think they and their few hosts will want JPPS to close shop? Well, think again.

What about the illegal aliens? They are staying in Sabah as if they own the State. No sane Sabahan would dare wander into any of their notorious colonies and expect to come out alive. Many locals have been stabbed and killed in public places in broad daylight by these illegals. And the illegal MyKad issues... so many things to say on this topic as well as the rest of the issues mentioned above that I don't even know where to start. So I won't even try to begin.

But one thing's for sure. The PM's vows will just remain that ...empty promises. Of that, I'm pretty darn sure. Just carefully read his statements. One very obvious case is when the Sabah reps ask for more ministerial posts for Sabahan MPs. Oh yes, he promised he will give "but it will take time"! Duhhhh...his ministers have already been sworn in, the present federal government has only few more years to go, and it is not sure how stable his government will be the next few years. You think he will bother to waste his limited precious time to accommodate some so-called conscientious Sabahan MPs? Again, better start thinking again. So, when the PM says "but it will take time", just take it to mean ..."when donkeys fly, my clueless friends!" And let's just get on with our lives.

But if any still insist on waiting for the PM's promises to be fulfilled, be my guest...