BALINGIAN: Living in peace, unity and harmony has been the strength of the state for decades and that scenario should be preserved and maintained.
Pointing this out on Tuesday, State Legislative Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, added that peace and harmony had also contributed to political stability in the state.
“Hence, the culture of political polarisation amongst the political parties from outside, especially the Bumiputera ones, did not fit the state. Unity has always been our strength since the existence of Sarawak and the main contributor to political stability in the Land of the Hornbill until now,” he said.
The spirit of unity among the colourful society, he added, also led to the establishment of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) several decades ago.
“And now, we form the coalition which puts local political parties from various social, religious and racial backgrounds under one umbrella called Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS),” he said at the presentation of contributions to mosques and suraus held at Masjid Darul Taqwa here.
He added that Sarawak had abundant natural resources on land or in the sea and could easily be as rich or richer than the neighbouring countries of Brunei and Singapore if the resources were developed totally for the development of the state.
“The size of Sarawak is the same as the whole of West Malaysia minus Perlis,” he said.
“We have oil, gas and other resources and if our eroded rights were to be returned back to us as it is should be, we could easily use them to develop our state up to our expectation. And now, it is sad that we were only given a very small fraction of the revenue from our own land or just five percent even though we are the owner of that wealth,” Asfia said.
GPS, which comprised the colourful society of the state, would be an appropriate platform to fight for the state’s rights, he added.
On the hikes in prices of the necessities or goods, Asfia attributed them to the weakening value of the ringgit compared to other currencies including the Brunei and Singapore Dollars, the common and closest comparisons.
Among those present were Balingian state assemblyman Abdul Yakub Arbi, political secretary to the chief minister Kenil Jeraie, Mukah district officer Shafrie Saili, SAO Nolin Gendang from Mukah Resident Office, Balingian Sub-district administrative officer, Penny Narawi and local community leaders.
