PENAMPANG, May 19 — All Sabah government or opposition state assemblymen and Members of Parliament (MPs) have been urged to remain united and jointly look for concrete measures to resolve the issue of electricity and clean water supply in the state for the sake of the people.

United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) president Datuk Ewon Benedick said such an approach is more important than pointing fingers, which doesn’t benefit anyone.

"Right now, we must gather all energy and resources that we have to help those facing water and electricity supply problems. The people need a strong and firm leadership capable of finding solutions,” said the Penampang MP.

Ewon, who is also the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister, told reporters this after presenting the Yayasan Bank Rakyat schooling assistance at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St Michael Hall, here, today.

Yesterday, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai urged the people of Sabah not to be easily swayed by the opposition’s attempts to pin the blame solely on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and his administration for the ongoing power and water problems affecting parts of the state.

Meanwhile, Ewon said elected representatives of Sabah Pakatan Harapan had also held a special session with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to ask the Federal government to provide a bigger additional allocation to Sabah to resolve the problem.

"I will share this with all my friends in Sabah, all assemblymen and MPs in Sabah. Why are we not united (because) what we need is allocation, not a question of who is right and who is wrong.

"I am very confident that when the PM visits Sabah in a few weeks’ time, he will announce something good for Sabah, especially involving additional allocation. In principle, he agreed to provide the additional allocation,” he said.

Ewon also said that 60 primary and secondary schools in Sabah received an allocation for schooling aid through the Yayasan Bank Rakyat Schooling Assistance programme, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives since March.

The aid is for students from the asnaf group as well as from B40 families and aims to help raise the academic achievement of students from the schools involved in the schooling session this year, he said. — Bernama