BN Government is caring: PBS
Saturday, 31 January 2004 (Source: Daily Express)

SOOK: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) commended the Election Commission (EC) and the State Government for taking positive action to address the problems of phantom voters and excessive parking fees in the Kota Kinabalu City area.

Its President Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan said the actions taken by the Government showed its responsiveness to the needs and aspirations of the people and this was in line with the goals of a caring and responsible government.

"For over a decade, PBS has been persistent in calling for a long-term solution to the phantom voters problem."

"We submitted a list of 71,000 suspected phantom voters over the years and we are grateful that the EC has since expunged 50,000 of them (as announced by EC Secretary Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar)," said Pairin, who is the Keningau Member of Parliament.

As a responsible party, PBS would continue to monitor the Sabah electoral rolls and assist the EC in cleaning it up further by highlighting and providing evidence on unqualified voters wherever they existed, he said, when launching the party's election work camp for Nabawan and Sook divisions, here on Friday.

On the revised parking rates for Kota Kinabalu, especially the abolition of parking fees in Menggatal and Telipok, Pairin said it again showed the Government was willing to listen to the grouses of the people and resolve genuine problems.

"All these actions show that PBS made the right decision to return to the Barisan Nasional (BN) fold so that it could assist in solving the problems of the people within the Government framework rather than as an opposition party," he said.

The former Chief Minister assured PBS leaders and supporters that the party will remain true to its original struggle and play its rightful role within the BN to ensure that the development aspirations of the people were achieved.

"For these reasons the people must come out in full force during the coming elections to support the BN and return the Government," he said.

The election work camp is part of a series being held in all the 17 State constituencies previously won by the PBS and is aimed at strengthening the election machinery and consolidating support for the BN.

Among those present were PBS Deputy President Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, Secretary-General Datuk Radin Malleh and the Deputy Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, Datuk James Vitales.