KOTA KINABALU: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) deputy president Datuk Ellron Angin has praised Yang di-Pertuan Agong for his concern on the plight of Sabah State in need of more infrastructural development.
“Me myself, as a true Sabahan, am very happy to know that our YDP Agong shares the same concern for development in our state.
“Basic infrastructure such as road and water works development is crucial not just for the development of the state, but also a major concern for the economy of the people in the rural area,” he said, expressing his gratitude in a statement today.
Yesterday, the King was quoted as urging the federal government to spur infrastructure development for new growth centres in Sabah and Sarawak, asserting it must be accelerated following the relocation of Indonesia’s capital city to the province of Kalimantan.
The King said that the speeding up the infrastructure development especially roads in Sabah is an enabler for the state to access the economic spill over from the newly developed Indonesian city Nusantara.
“On Januari 29, last year, I held a meeting with JKR Keningau regarding the prioritisation of road and water works in Sook. and on March 13, I held a meeting with Datuk Bung Mokhtar, State JKR Minister, JKR state and district officers on the need to procure the funds from federal goverment for this infrastructure development. Both meeting were held at the Keningau JKR Office.
“In these meetings, we have discussed tirelessly on the need to prioritise major roads in Sook as it is crucial for the connectivity to the new Indonesian state capital and funding for these projects from the Federal Government must be swift in order for us to prepare well ahead before the Indonesian state capital moves,” Ellron added.
It was learnt that the development in terms of road needed are Sook RM 1.867 Billion for 340.82KM (30 trunks of main road) while for Tulid and Nabawan there are estimated around RM 577.280M for 103.2KM of roads and RM 1.5B for 188.66KM respectively.
Ellron was also very delighted and touched regarding the acknowledgement by the King whereby he was very grateful for the current political stability which was established through bipartisan cooperation, that is the memorandum of understanding on transformation and political stability signed between the government and the opposition referring to the amendments relating to the MA 63 that were passed with a majority of more than two-thirds in the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara last December.
