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Sunday, May 22, 2016

Look into serious mismanagement issues in Penampang

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MP SPEAKS The Sabah state cabinet had been urged yesterday to immediately act on several serious mismanagement issues happening recently in Penampang that truly exposes the incapability of the BN-led state government to administer our beloved Sabah efficiently and effectively.
Several protests, complaints and civil actions made by concerned Penampang folk within the first half of this year alone proves that the BN-led state government only prioritises revenue collection but has no interest at all to uplift the standards of enforcement, monitoring and delivery of several state department and authorities.
A police report was made recently by several villagers from Kampung Terian Penampang on the subject of massive on-going logging activities taking place over an area measuring 500 acres more or less and located at Babagon Laut, Penampang.
The villagers’ action to lodge the police report is applaudable because they have in fact already informed and requested the Forestry Department and the district officer of Penampang to investigate the logging activity but unfortunately, no feedback ever came from the said authorities since September 2015 until now.
So, the main question on this issue is for a very serious matter like this (massive logging) that involves irreversible environmental damages, why did it take a long time for both authorities to complete their investigation when they could have done it within a short period of time in view that the area is said to be ‘State Land’ under a  Land Application (LA) status?
The villagers have also said that the activities have now extended beyond the alleged 500 acres and fast approaching the boundaries of land belonging to Sabah Parks.
In these circumstances, the director of State Forestry Department (in conjunction with his Heart of Borneo initiative) as well as the director of Sabah Park must now confirm immediately the status of the alleged logging activities at the said subject area and whether such activities had been allowed by their respective department or otherwise.
The highly publicized hill cutting issue/earthwork at Kampung Mogunsilad, Penampang reaffirms that it all goes back to the basic question of ‘why didn’t the relevant authorities act immediately in the first place after being informed about the activity during its infancy’.
Several reports to the authorities were made years before and repeatedly without any punitive action on the part of the authorities until recently.
Some local dailies reported recently that civil action is justifiable but such litigation should seriously focus on all parties concerned (the person whose acts caused the damage, the landowners whose work caused the damage and the authorities who failed in their duty of care in exercising their statutory duties in preventing the damage).
It is beyond any reasonable doubt that the hill cutting activity had caused irreversible damage within the surrounding areas and Moyog River and which should never had happened in the first place had the relevant authorities reacted to the pleas by the villagers concerned at the first instance and  prioritised strict and efficient enforcement and monitoring procedures.
Numerous media coverage have been made on this issue for several years now and the most glaring was made last year and despite this, the authorities only acted when the Moyog River had been significantly polluted with mud and debris coming from the cleared area and this is despite the fact that there has been a directive to ban all hill cutting in the district without permit and EIA report.
Controversy surrounding SMK Limbanak
The recent controversy surrounding the SMK Limbanak had caused several parents of students studying in that school to hang up a banner condemning the principal.
I was made to know that the parents have been very unhappy with the principal since last year over several issues and their grouses have been brought to the attention of the District Education Department through the Parents-Teachers Association.
But why didn’t the department immediately investigate the complaint when it was first being forwarded to them last year?  By logic, if you simply disregard any complaint made by angry parents, you will only make them become angrier hence I believe this inaction was what prompted those dissatisfied parents to hang up the banner.
Judging on some of the unattended complaints made by the Penampang folk, there seems to be no improvement at all on the part of the authorities with regards to effective enforcement, monitoring, response and delivery to the public.
The public on the hand had contributed so much to ensure that government’s coffers are never short of funds in that in the first two months of this year alone (January-February 2016), Sabahans have contributed to RM367.68 Million towards the Goods and Services Tax (GST) alone!
So a little quick reaction to the public’s complaints by those who administer the people’s taxes should be a priority at all times.
In Donggongon NewTownship, illegal lottery/gambling operators and illegal cigarette peddlings by foreign kids are doing their businesses in broad daylight even though it is an offence to do so and I am very perplexed with this as this has been ongoing for years now.
How could this be happening? Penampang folk are seeing these things every day for so long now until it creates an impression that the local authorities have no interest at all to apprehend and bring them to the court for doing illegal business.
The ‘lack of concern coupled with incapability to manage effectively and efficiently’ which he believe is happening all over the state is difficult to address unless and until there is a total change of the current state government because an effective and efficient administration starts from within the cabinet level.
“I believe this incapability arises due to the fact that the BN state government had been in power far too long now and their main focus is only on winning any general election and not to create a people-oriented government.
This is even more so considering that our state cabinet ministers consist of mostly veteran politicians whom I believe have long lost their passion to make significant improvement within the micro level purely for the benefit of Sabahans except by instructing his/her respective head of ministry to act or respond whenever a controversy or issue arises.
So, even though the state government comes out with its ‘transformation’ plan aimed to uplift the enforcement, monitoring and delivery of relevant authorities, I reckon it may prove futile unless there is a complete Reform and change of the state government that will automatically change the state cabinet, he concluded.

DARELL LEIKING is Member of Parliament for Penampang and a vice-president of PKR. -Mkini

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