KUCHING: Sarawakians will not be easily swayed by unrealistic political agendas, said Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth chief Datuk Snowdan Lawan.
“Their love for this state will bind Sarawakians in a more unified stand and they will not be influenced by what transpired in Malaya that led to the downfall of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018,” he said.
He believed that in the next state election, the people would judge Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) as a genuine contributor to the success of the state’s development.
He said this when commenting on whether the people of Sarawak would take note of the evident efforts of the GPS government in the coming state election.
“First and foremost, Sarawakians had felt the bitter experience brought by the 22 months of Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
“Instead, Sarawakians now are grateful they are unattached to the old BN and see the benefits of forming the GPS coalition and being friendly to Perikatan Nasional (PN),” he said.
He pointed out that GPS’ ‘Sarawak First’ tagline had carried the state towards accomplishing the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) agendas with more bold steps forward taken by the State MA63 Steering Committee.
Snowdan also said the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 implementation and the winning of the suit on State Sales Tax (SST) against Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) were clear testimonies of the GPS government’s efforts.
“For the last three years, our chief minister has presented us huge budgets of up to the RM10 billion. These are truly rural and people-centric budgets, with the largest chunk for rural and people’s projects in the form of infrastructures.
“Cancelled projects by the previous federal government have now been revived and their earth-breaking ceremonies done like the Batang Lupar and Batang Igan bridges and these are not hot air promises,” he said.
Snowdan said Sarawak under the strong leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had undertaken 53 initiatives to develop the state.
He also pointed out the various projects and initiatives established and carried out by the GPS government, including the hydrogen bus transportation system, digital economy platform, rural water and electricity supply, and more.
He pointed out that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) packages implemented by the state had assisted in alleviating the impact of the pandemic on the people and businesses.
“The state government spent right for the people such as having a dedicated budget for purchases of vaccines during these trying times and for people to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity,” said Snowdan, who is also Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports and Balai Ringin assemblyman.
He said the opposition were ‘without real physical achievements’ although GPS had lent ears to valid feedback.
Earlier, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar expressed confidence that the winds of change that blew BN out of Putrajaya in 2018 would not occur in Sarawak.
On the other hand, he cautioned that things could not be taken lightly – “What happened in Semenanjung can happen here.”
Nonetheless, he believed that once it was time for the 12th state election, the people of Sarawak would certainly appreciate GPS’ performance record, including the various development projects implemented and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
