By Daniel John Jambun, President, Change Advocate Movement of Sabah (CAMOS)
KOTA KINABALU: The Change Advocate Movement of Sabah (CAMOS) takes note of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement that all water, electricity, road, school repair and critical infrastructure projects in Sabah will be jointly monitored every month beginning January.
While this sounds encouraging, Sabahans must not be misled: monthly monitoring alone will not solve the real disease crippling Sabah’s development. Our problem has never been a shortage of meetings or committees. Our problem has always been corruption, leakages, wastage, abuse of power, and the complete lack of accountability in federal and state project implementation.
For decades, Sabahans have endured failed water systems, collapsing schools, unfinished rural roads and endless delays — not because officers didn’t monitor them, but because:
Procurement is tainted by corruption and political interference.
Leakages occur at every stage, especially in federal agencies with little transparency in Sabah.
Politically connected contractors repeatedly fail without punishment.
There is a culture of impunity, where every scandal is followed by silence, not action.
If the Prime Minister is sincere about reform and Madani governance, he must go beyond public announcements and confront the root causes.
PMX MUST SHOW REAL COURAGE — START BY CLEANING UP THE SMM CORRUPTION SCANDAL
If PMX wants to prove that he is genuinely committed to good governance and national reform, he must begin by cleaning up the SMM corruption scandal, which has shaken public trust across the country. Sabahans are watching closely.
It is impossible to preach “reform,” “integrity,” and “Madani values” while one of the largest corruption controversies in recent memory remains inadequately addressed. Ensuring full transparency, prosecuting wrongdoing without fear or favour, and recovering public funds would demonstrate that the Prime Minister’s commitments are real — not just political optics.
GOOD GOVERNANCE MUST BE MORE THAN ANNOUNCEMENTS
PMX’s promise that his administration will “not delay” in delivering projects is welcome, but it must be accompanied by:
Full forensic audits of all federal projects in Sabah over the past two decades.
Transparent performance reporting made public, not confined to internal meetings.
Decisive action on non-performing contractors, including blacklisting and legal action.
Respecting MA63, ensuring Sabah has greater authority over its own development planning and implementation — a right long denied despite the constant rhetoric from Putrajaya.
Sabahans are tired of grand speeches, repeated promises and carefully staged visits. What we want — and deserve — is clean governance, enforcement of the law, accountability for failures, and an end to federal dominance over our development priorities.
SABAH’S SUFFERING IS NOT CAUSED BY A LACK OF MONITORING — IT IS CAUSED BY A LACK OF INTEGRITY
PMX must understand:
Sabah’s development crisis is not procedural. It is structural, systemic, and driven by corruption.
Unless and until Putrajaya is ready to confront this reality, monthly monitoring meetings will only produce more paperwork — not better roads, not cleaner water, not functioning schools, and not a better life for Sabahans.
Sabah does not need more committees. Sabah needs clean governance, transparency, and respect under MA63.
Only then will development promises stop being political theatre and finally become reality.
