'Help BN to win big'

PENAMPANG, Nov 12 (Daily Express) --- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has asked Sabahans to give Barisan Nasional (BN) a big win in the next general election as endorsement of the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) and the large allocation given to the State under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP).

"We hope Sabahans will show their support for the Sabah Development Corridor by giving us lots of votes," he said when opening the 22nd congress of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), Sunday.

The Prime Minister hoped that the Sabah Development Corridor concept could be speeded up to spur the State's economic growth.

"I have been informed by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman that the final meeting of the Sabah Development Corridor will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 16.

"I am thankful to the State Government led by Musa for keeping his promise and hope to launch the Sabah Development Corridor by year end. We want to ensure that the development being planned will really benefit the people," he said.

The Prime Minister, who is also BN Chairman, is confident of PBS' commitment in helping BN to win the election.

"Our strength is derived from the close cooperation, understanding and unity which made it easier for us to implement the various development programmes.

"Without this, the next Sabah Government will become weak and lose power. This means that they cannot play a role in the development programmes being planned."

Abdullah urged BN component parties in Sabah including PBS to continue to cooperate in making the Sabah development agenda a success.

"In efforts to put across our views and requirements, we have to understand the needs of the other component parties too. Umno is not alone so too is PBS. We are all BN component parties based on the power sharing concept," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdullah said the SDC would create more opportunities of quality to the people in the State to raise their living standards and to enjoy the benefits of national development.

Besides becoming new growth centres in Sabah, the SDC also played a role in creating balanced development in the country, he said.

The Federal Government had previously allocated RM4 billion to Sabah which was announced in the 2008 Budget.

The PM also announced an additional allocation of RM800 million to Sabah and Sarawak to raise the income and standard of living of the Bumiputera communities in the two states.

"Areas which lacked infrastructure would need more time for development and as such, infrastructural facilities would have to be improved and new ones built," he said.

He said efforts to implement the SDC would be a major challenge for Sabah especially in mobilising and pooling resources to ensure the programme's success.

Abdullah said there was no easy way to achieve success but the BN government was prepared to face whatever obstacles to bring speedier development to the people.

He said the strong emphasis given by the government on human capital development was to ensure that whatever challenges that might crop up in future could be overcome.