Kota Belud has 2 federal ministers but remains ‘cowboy town’

Housing and Urban Planning Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s face dominates a poster in Kota Belud yet its villages still do not have running water while traffic can be a headache at certain times. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, September 20, 2015.

Kota Belud native Jalumin Bayogoh tells a joke about his district when asked how he feels about it now that it is the only parliamentary constituency with two federal ministers.

Housing and Urban Planning Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan is the MP for Kota Belud, while Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak is assemblyman for Usukan, which is in Kota Belud.

The district on Sabah’s northeast coast has also produced a Dewan Rakyat speaker, two chief ministers and a handful of Borneo’s political elite.

Jalumin’s joke is that despite its rich political lineage, Kota Belud did not join the 21st century until the TD Lodge Kota Belud was built about four years ago.

“If the hotel was not there, the people of Kota Belud would never have felt what it is like to ride in a lift. It’s the only building in the district with one,” said Jalumin, who contested the Kota Belud parliamentary seat in the 13th general election in 2013.

Jalumin told this joke over and over again in his campaign to become MP to show how backward Kota Belud was despite the many famous sons who could have transformed it the way other politicians have done for their home towns.

Birthplace of ministers   

Jalumin’s joke reflects a traditional Malaysian compact between voters and their lawmakers. Politicians are supposed to develop their towns and better their lives in exchange for votes.

The most famous examples are what former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did for Langkawi, Kedah, and what current PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak is doing for Pekan, Pahang.

If the same standard is applied to Kota Belud, said Jalumin, its economy would already be big enough to produce tall buildings.

Former assemblyman Datuk Ismail Gimbad says Kota Belud can be proud of itself for producing so many politicians. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, September 20, 2015.Instead, its residents complain that many of its villages still do not have running water while traffic planning in its town centre is so bad, it takes half an hour to move 100m during some parts of the day.

A promising rice industry it had in the 1970s has been left fallow due to improper management, said a resident and former assemblyman Datuk Ismail Gimbad.

Yet Kota Belud is the birthplace of Sabah Umno, said Ismail, who first held public office in 1967 and who was part of Sabah’s independence struggle.

Kota Belud was where the peninsula-based party opened its first Sabah division in 1991. The party is now the big brother of Sabah Barisan Nasional and holds the most seats in the state legislature.

“Kota Belud can be proud of itself for producing so many Sabah ministers,” said Ismail, who was assemblyman for Surob in 1967.

Its most famous son is Salleh’s father Tun Said Keruak, who served as chief minister, state agriculture minister and head of state.

Before Salleh was appointed communications and multimedia minister in late July, he was the Sabah assembly speaker and held the chief minister’s post for two years.

In comparison, Rahman is a relative newcomer. He is a second-term MP of Kota Belud and was appointed to the Cabinet in 2013.

Persistent problems       

This pride in Kota Belud’s politicians, however, was lost on many residents, such as businessman Mohamad Yusof, 58.

“Since the 1980s when I grew up we’ve always had water problems.

“Villagers can’t get round-the-clock water. I have to wait until midnight sometimes to have enough water to take a bath,” said Mohamad, who runs a shop selling audio equipment in the town centre.

“We’ve had two chief ministers from Kota Belud and yet this still happens.”

Another resident, who wanted to be known only as Husairy, said the government had laid water pipes to villages and individual houses but supply was limited.

“Residents have had to drill wells to pump out groundwater. But it isn’t dependable because the water is dirty,” said Husairy, who works for the district council.

“The minister in charge of water is also a Sabanan (Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili) but we still have water supply problems.”

Like other parts of Sabah, friction between locals and MyKad-holding migrants is also common in Kota Belud.

Mohamad and Husairy complained that Indonesians were gobbling up the lion’s share of the day and night market and permits in town while local traders were getting squeezed out.

“We are seeing even Pakistanis lining up to receive BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid scheme) handouts,” said Mohamad, adding that this was only possible if the recipients had MyKad.

Ismail said during Said’s time, the government tried to turn Kota Belud, with its huge expanses of flat land, into Sabah’s rice bowl, like Kedah was to the peninsula.

Some 9,300ha were given out to the landless just like in a Felda scheme and seeds, fertiliser and training given to them to grow rice.

Today, only a third of that land was producing rice, said Ismail.

Din Mohamad, a farmer, said the rice industry did not provide enough jobs and income for youths.

“We need a factory of some kind. Right now everyone has to go to Kota Kinabalu or the peninsula to find jobs,” said Din.

“I’m not trying to run down our ministers. We are proud of them but they must show that they can really serve the people.”

Kota Belud is the birthplace of Sabah Umno and is home to two federal ministers. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, September 20, 2015.

Greater heights   

In response, Salleh said he was aware of Kota Belud’s infrastructure problems, such as its roads and water shortages, adding that the government was committed to solving them.

For instance, it is building a new treatment plant and distributing storage tanks to villages to deal with water shortages.

“The water shortage in this district is not new, and it worsened after the June 5 earthquake in Mount Kinabalu and Kundasang,” Salleh said in a WhatsApp message to The Malaysian Insider.

In an August 15 media statement, Rahman had said two water treatment plants were rendered useless because of mudslides from the Ranau quake in June that had contaminated Sungai Kedamaian.

Besides measures announced by Salleh, Rahman added that authorities were also buying 10 underground water pumps to increase the amount of water from boreholes that the districts relied on for water.

“I will also ensure that permanent storage tanks will be sent to villages as soon as possible,” Rahman said in the statement uploaded on his Facebook page.

Sallah said from 1994 to 2014, more than RM700 million were spent on improving the district’s infrastructure. This included building the Kota Belud-Tuaran highway, more rural roads and new schools, including five secondary schools.

In May, Rahman also launched a new affordable housing project on the outskirts of the town which would provide 1,000 new units when ready.

“Contrary to what some people say, especially the opposition, the government has actually done a lot for the betterment of the people of the Kota Belud parliamentary constituency,” said Salleh.

“The big allocation for Kota Belud, over the past 20 years, speaks for itself. The government will continue to bring Kota Belud, dubbed the cowboy town of Sabah, to greater heights.”

- TMI