BN failed Sarawak 30 years ago, why trust BN again?

When Taib Mahmud became Chief Minister of Sarawak 30 years ago, Sarawak was a state blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Oil had been discovered in 1882 and Miri had its first oil well in 1910. Sarawak’s forests also contributed towards its wealth.

Therefore it does not make sense for Taib and BN to claim in its election manifesto that BN would make Sarawak the richest state in Malaysia. When Taib came to power Sarawak was already rich.

It was Taib’s greed and insane desire for power, combined with his inept mismanagement of the state, which has reduced Sarawak and its peoples to a pitiful state.

Now that Taib faces the worst challenge to his power, Taib touts the line that only he can be the saviour of Sarawak. It was him who systematically plundered Sarawak and raped its people, so that he could enrich his own coffers. He elevated people in his close family circle and a few core individuals to a billionaire status. He chose to ignore the other Sarawakains.

So why should the people of Sarawak place any more trust in BN? BN failed Sarawak and therefore, Pakatan deserve a chance.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak dismissed the Sarawak election manifesto of Pakatan as 'mere election promises'. He described the ongoing infrastructure development of BN in Sarawak and that the biggest achievement of the BN government was the development of water, electricity and road projects as well as repair of houses.

We then have Deputy Prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin scoffing at Pakatan’s 10-point manifesto for Sarawak.

Last year, when Pakatan unveiled their “10-point, 100-day reforms” plan which would be implemented if it came to power, Muhyiddin was also dismissive of those plans.

He boasted that the BN government did not squander our nation's wealth” and he reminded the public “‘why BN has been in power for more than half a century and counting”.

Muhyiddin said the “ubah” (change) slogan in the manifesto of the opposition pact of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP and PAS for the April 16 Sarawak state election was being played like a "broken record".

Actually it is Muhyiddin who is like the ‘broken record’. Remember how in December he said Pakatan was full of “empty promises” and said that “Pakatan can promise the sun, moon, stars”?

Last weekend he said the same thing and criticised Pakatan’s Sarawak election manifesto with “they (Pakatan) promised the "moon and the stars" but till today had not done anything for the people.”

BN has been in Sarawak all these years and it could have brought real progress and development to Sarawak, but it did not. It lacked the political will to do something.

So BN should stop moaning that Pakatan has done nothing. How could Pakatan do anything? Pakatan is not the ruling party. The purse strings are controlled by Putrajaya.

Therefore, Muhyiddina, Najib and Taib are being disingenuous when they said Pakatan had done nothing for the state.

The Sarawak BN manifesto is short on detail. A quick glance will show that they have not preserved the environment nor the culture and heritage of its people. BN destroyed these by destroying the ancestral heartlands of the indigenous folk.

On oil palm plantations, cheap migrant labour has been preferentially employed over the more expensive local workforce, to work in the plantations.

Through corrupt business practices, Taib and his cronies have carved out the best and most favourable business opportunities for all.

Taib ignores people’s land rights. He has displaced the Ibans to make way for his mega-dams. He has sent in his thugs to intimidate the Penans who stood in the way of his logging companies.

The infrastructure Taib is talking about is virtually non-existent. The Pan-Borneo highway is not complete and it has been decades since it was first implemented. People still do not have electricity nor clean running water.

After 53 years of BN rule, the nation is more divided than ever, our economy is in tatters, our educational standards are falling whilst Taib’s residence on the banks of the Sarawak river is palatial with a yacht moored alongside.

Taib travels overseas more often than the number of times, the locals take a taxi to the local pasar. Taib has access to the many forms of transport, two Rolls, a selection of fast cars, helicopters, aeroplanes and luxury yachts at his disposal. The Penan can’t even have a decent road or transportation to take their children to school.

Muhyiddin may condemn Pakatan, but what has BN done for Sarawak?

BN has been in power, but the poverty that is experienced by a majority of its folk, and the lack of infrastructure in the interior, shows that BN has been sleeping on the job.

BN has become too complacent. It is time Pakatan took over.