'Whoever paves the road will have our votes for life'

SABAH POLLS | Every election season, candidates and political parties descend on their voters bearing manifestoes intended to attract their votes.

However, in Mukim Bunga Raya, a small village located in Bingkor, Keningau, voters have decided to go for a little role-reversal by drawing the candidates' attention to the issues that they want to be addressed.

The villagers have submitted their "voting manifesto" by adapting the way political parties place flags and banners.

If you are travelling from Keningau town to Tambunan, you will definitely see a large white banner at a crossroads.

It carries the sentence "where there is aspal (tarred road), there is a vote", and also adds the slogan "Sabah ubah (change)!" along with the hashtags of the parties contesting in the constituency.

Under the banner, there is another small one that reads "where there is a bridge, there is a vote".

According to the villagers, "aspal" is a Dusun language word that means tarred road.

Our curiosity piqued, Malaysiakini entered the village to get more information.

However, the journey from the main road into the village was not so easy even if it was a mere six-kilometre drive.

This was because, for most of the journey, the road was just gravel and dirt - forcing one's car to move slowly.

In addition, the road had two very "unique" bridges. The first bridge was often blocked with overflowing river water when it rained or when the river water level was high.

This caused the bridge to be submerged and made it difficult for residents to get in and out of their village.

The other bridge was a small one made of wood and had no barriers on its sides. According to locals, they had to wait for their turn to cross the bridges as both were very narrow.

This has affected over 2,000 residents in Mukim Bunga Raya for many years.

Louis Lubis, a resident of Kampung Tonobon Baru, said that the banner "where there is aspal (tarred road), there is a vote" had actually been put up by locals since the 14th general election (GE14).

He said this was because the main road that enters the village had not been paved since GE12 back in 2008.

As the road issue was still unresolved, he said his village had unanimously decided they would agree to vote for any party capable of paving the road before polling day.

"In our latest discussion, we decided that anyone who can really pave the road in the near future, we will support the party for life.

"And we do not want to accept outside parties anymore.

"If they (other parties) come, come. But we will not give support," he commented during an interview with Malaysiakini, reflecting the sentiment of Sabahans who wish to vote for local parties, not those regarded as national or from Peninsular Malaysia.

Louis was also the former chairperson of the village's safety and development committee (JKKK) from 2012 to 2018, during the BN era.

He said the grassroots leaders of various parties in Mukim Bunga Raya have all agreed with the "manifesto" of the village and would fight for this common goal even though they had different political beliefs.

According to Louis (photo), the village road was only paved with tar for a kilometre on both ends - the village and the town. The paved road was only "extended" by 500m after GE12.

"They only added a slightly longer (stretch) on the main road. The (unfinished) part is estimated to be at least 3km. That road is still a gravel road.

While serving as JKKK chairperson, Louis said he held meetings with the Public Works Department and related units to find a solution.

But every time the answer of "no allocation" was given.

He claimed that incumbent Chief Minister Shafie Apdal and other Warisan leaders also made promises to pave roads during their campaign for GE14.

"He spoke at the ceremony at that time. He said 'if we win GE14, I promise to pave this road'.

"But what has happened in these two years? After that (GE) they did not come again," Louis complained.

When asked if there was any political party that promised to pave the road only after polling day, Louis said they would consider the promise carefully this time.

"If they promise to do it the day after we cast our votes, we will also consider. The only thing is we are afraid it will just be a promise, nothing more.

"As the Dusun say, this is a moonlight promise, which is a false promise," he added.

According to Louis, the Bunga Raya Voting District Centre (VDC) has about 800 Bingkor voters and there are villagers who are registered as Tambunan and Sook voters.

In GE14, the Bunga Raya area was won by DAP candidate Peter Saili with a total of 258 votes. However, the overall Bingkor seat was eventually gained by Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) leader Robert Tawik in the six-cornered contest.

Due to frustration with the BN and Warisan governments, Louis now feels that Perikatan Nasional (PN) has a chance to get votes from the village compared to other parties.

The reason is that PN is the central government that holds resources and is capable of carrying out infrastructure projects, he claimed.

Peter and Robert will be contesting again in Bingkor for the upcoming state election.

Malaysiakini is contacting the two representatives for further clarification on these issues.

Voting for all 73 seats in the Sabah state election will be held on Sept 26. - Mkini