KOTA KINABALU, July 9 — A local NGO wants the GRS government to convert Sabah into a nation with eight states.
The president of the East Malaysia’s Original Peoples Organisation or Pertubuhan Orang Asal Malaysia Timur (POAMAT), Maslan Maginda, feels Sabah’s move in this direction is long overdue, saying that the state divided into smaller administrative areas similar to that of the Peninsula will make for a more efficient administration and economic development.
“It will be even better than the residency system used during the British administration,” he said.
“In fact, unknown to many, one or two areas of Sabah in the West Coast were called states or ‘negeri’ during the Brunei rule.
“The states should be eight in number, including Labuan. The new setup will give Sabah a better managed and speedier economic development with basic amenities in place for states’ communities.”
Maslan added that the state government will then be a Sabah national government under Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Hj Noor as Sabah’s first prime minister, with a parliament and the states having their respective state assemblies and Cabinets.
“I am making this appeal to voice out the wish of a huge segment of the people of Sabah who have long wanted Sabah to be on par with the system of government of the Peninsula,” Maslan added. “With this new administrative format there will no longer be any more complaints about Sabah being the supposed 13th state of Malaysia.
“POAMAT is also appealing to the first deputy chief minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Jeffrey Kitingan, who has in the past voiced out this same dream for Sabah, to pursue the matter with urgency because it has been a fond dream of many Sabahans for many years.” — Borneo Post
