Sabah activist pans Bung's claim of minimal development under local parties
PETALING JAYA : A Sabah activist says it is unfair to claim that there was minimal development when the state was governed by local parties, pointing to the contributions of leaders such as former chief minister Harris Salleh.
Johan Ariffin Samad said Harris, the former president of local party Berjaya who led the state for nearly 10 years, was still regarded as the father of Sabah's industrial and agriculture development.
Johan Ariffin Samad.
He also cited some of Harris's legacies, like the Desa Dairy Farm in Kundasang, developed under a state government-linked company, which he said was still operating today.
'It is unfair to claim that Sabah saw minimal development under a local party,' Johan, also known as Joe Samad, told FMT.
The remark was made by Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin, who had referred to the period of 1963 to 1994.
Bung said that development took a back seat due to political infighting and power struggles among local parties.
He also claimed that frequent changes in government had led to incoherent development plans and the underdevelopment of much of rural Sabah.
Harris became chief minister in 1976, following the plane crash that killed his predecessor and party comrade, Fuad Stephens. He led the state until he was ousted in an election in 1985 by Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who had left Berjaya to form Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
In 2020, former banker John Lo told FMT that he regarded Harris as the overseer of the 'golden era' of Sabah's economic development.
Lo credited Harris for the development of the tourism, oil and gas industries and an acceleration in agricultural development.
Bung Moktar Radin.
Johan also rubbished Bung's claim that 'real change' only took place in 1994, when Barisan Nasional (BN) took over the state administration.
He said Umno had failed to lift Sabah from the poverty trap and that it remains the state with the highest poverty level.
'Umno focused on urban development centres like Kota Kinabalu, which resulted in the poor infrastructure that we have today in the rural areas,' he said.
He added that Umno and BN had likewise failed to resolve the issue of undocumented migrants which continued despite the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) findings on 'Project IC', which saw thousands of undocumented migrants granted Malaysian citizenship.
He also cited the rotating system for chief ministers, initiated by Umno, which he said had weakened the state leadership.
The system, introduced after BN regained power in Sabah in 1994, saw the post rotated every two years among leaders representing the different communities.
'Bung is the biggest hypocrite for blaming local parties and crediting Umno for development,' he said.
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