Rural poor not brainless as protrayed, says Maximus

KOTA MARUDU, August 17 (Daily Express) -- Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) urged Opposition-led non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to stop making political capital out of poor folks' hardship and struggle for economic improvement.

PBS Deputy President Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said Thursday, such NGOs should truly practise the concept of a helping hand and stop ridiculing the poor for their predicament.

Speaking at a meet-the-people session at Kg Koromoko near here, he said nothing was more disheartening than to see politically-motivated NGOs appearing in a rural area once every five years, distributing goody bags worth less than RM20 and instilling hatred among the people by politicising their hardship and under-development.

"There were opposition leaders who disguised themselves as Santa Claus through so-called welfare NGOs and dished out cheap goodies to the rural poor while making political capital out of their plight," he said.

Maximus, who is MP for Kota Marudu and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, was commenting on a recent statement by the Chairperson of the Society of Hope Kota Kinabalu, Christina Liew who is also Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah Deputy Chairperson.

Liew and her team visited Kg Samparita and distributed food items and stationery to poor pupils at SK Samparita last week.

"What was described by the Sabah PKR Deputy Chairperson was total exaggeration. She talked about people dying at the roadside and farmers storing their rubber sheets for five years due to lack of transportation. The rural poor may be uneducated but they are not brainless as portrayed.

"Of course, there are numerous rural farms that are not served yet by permanent roads. In many places, farmers have to carry their produce on their backs to the nearest road to reach the market.

"But to say people store their rubber sheets for five years due to lack of proper roads, despite the good rubber prices, is a blatant lie that can only come from the mouth of the opposition," he charged.

Maximus, however, acknowledged that the villages of Bombong 4, Bombong 3, Bombong 2 and Monguwou are served only by former logging roads "and presently in bad state due to the severe rainy season few months back."

But, he pointed out, contrary to Liew's allegation that nothing has been done to solve the people's plight, the Government has just awarded a tender worth RM180,000 to repair the Bombong4-Bombong 2 Road. The project should be completed by next month, according to him.

He further countered that the Keadilan leader aimed to portray as if Kota Marudu has the monopoly of the poor in Sabah.

"She forgot that there are also poverty-striken groups in the back streets and squatter areas of Kota Kinabalu and even her hometown of Tawau. At least in the rural areas, the people can toil their land and earn a decent living without resorting to begging in the streets," he said.

He said the Barisan Nasional Government was fully aware that there was still a double-digit poverty rate in the rural sector but determined to reduce it through enhanced rural development programmes and provision of basic infrastructure as outlined in the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP).

"The Agropolitan Project in Pulau Banggi and huge financial allocations for basic amenities in the 9MP are clear strategies.

Of course, the problems of the rural poor cannot be overcome overnight.

But at least there is clear commitment to solve persistent problems unlike the opposition who can only bark and criticise."