CM says up to SPDP to choose candidate for Mas Gading

Chief Minister’s statement that it is up to SPDP to nominate their candidate for the Mas Gading seat and the Prime Minister to endorse it has received positive response from the party members and the constituents.

“It is very good that the Chief Minister has cleared the air and that must be a big relief to SPDP. So now it is up for SPDP to close ranks, leave the past behind and really focus to win in Mas Gading and the other seats,” said PBB Opar Chairman Dato' Peter Minos.

Minos, who is also PBB assistant publicity chief said the three MP seats currently held by SPDP matter a lot to BN and must be won in the coming general election expected to be held in June.

“Think and concentrate to face Pakatan which will fight tooth and nails because Pakatan has all to gain and nothing to lose,” said Minos.

According to Minos, Pakatan can only win by default in Mas Gading or elsewhere if BN fight against each other.

Thus, Minos urged all those who call themselves BN member to do what they say and not just playing lip service or pretending to support BN.

He said members of BN from other component parties should follow those in PBB who always follow their leaders without second thought.

“Election is now at the corner and maybe held in June and so there is no more time for bad blood or recrimination or even for misunderstanding in and between BN.

“Pakatan in Kuala Lumpur side is deliberately keeping discreet silence and waiting for BN to make the mistakes and creating self-defeating issues. So BN must avoid the mistakes and stay away from self-defeatist issues,” Minos said.

Meanwhile SPDP Bengoh and Tarat also expressed their full support that SPDP should be allowed to choose its own choice of candidate for Mas Gading.

Chairman of SPDP Bengoh Sebastian Sakoi and chairman of SPDP Tarat Captain Miron Guanguly said they fully supported what the Chief Minister had said in Bintulu when officiating at the party delegates’ conference.

The party newly elected vice president Captain Zainuddin Tan Sri Hamdan Sirat said SPDP Mambong which he is the co-ordinator also fully supported the Chief Minister’s statement.

“The Mas Gading seat is for SPDP and not the so called BN’s Club championed by Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe and Datuk Peter Nansian,” said Zainuddin yesterday.

Meanwhile the people in Mas Gading said they wanted political stability and good Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them.

Several community leaders, political leaders, Bidayuh and Selako intellectuals in Mas Gading who were interviewed recently to ask on their views and opinions with regards the SPDP crisis and choice of candidate for the coming general election said they wants political stability and a good Member of Parliament to represent them in Mas Gading.

Dr Tiki is the current MP for Mas Gading but the latter was sacked from the party along with four others for subordination.

SPDP sacked its former secretary-general Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran in Nov 25 last year and followed by four other leaders on Jan 14 following the part’s Supreme Council meeting on the same day.

The four stripped of their post were then Senior Vice President and Tasik Biru Assemblyman Datuk Peter Nansian, Vice President and Mas Gading MP Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe, Information Chief and Batu Danau Assemblyman Paulus Palu Gumbang and Supreme Council member and Bekenu Assemblyman Rosey Yunus.

The five including Sylvester Entri dubbed the "SPDP 5" caused a stir within the party after declaring they have lost faith and confidence in Mawan and repeatedly issued media statements attacking the party president.


Mawan said the SPDP Supreme Council also decided that Tiki would not be re-nominated to contest in Mas Gading because he was not the most winnable candidate while Nansian can kiss good bye to Tasik Biru seat in the next state election.

Mawan has also said the party had at least four candidates to replace Tiki. They are State Tourism and Heritage Ministry's permanent secretary Datuk Ik Pahon Joyik, Rayan Narong, an accountant with a private sector here; Anthony Nogeh, Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority's (Salcra) deputy general manager, Henry Jinep, a successful local entrepreneur and his brother William Jinep, a senior government servant.

Tiki and Nansian’s camp has formed what they called BN’s Club and has already started their round of meeting the people session in the constituency but The Star recently reported that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) here has not received any application to register such club here.

Opar State Assemblyman Ranum Mina has also said that he hoped the quarrel between the two camps can be solved before the general election so as not to create confusion among the voters.

“I hope the two groups can reconcile and work together for the sake of Barisan Nasional (BN) and the people in Mas Gading constituency,” added Ranum.

When the time arrived, he hoped the two factions can work together for the benefit of BN in facing the coming general election.

“Whoever BN’s leaders chose and nominated as the candidate we should support.

“As for me whoever is nominated as a BN’s candidate in Mas Gading I will give my full support, even if he is to be Datuk Dr Tiki re-nominated to contest,” said Ranum.

He advised voters in Mas Gading not to be too involved in the issue, adding that it will not bring any good to them and the constituency.

“Leave it to the party and BN’s leadership to decide the candidate. Whoever is the candidate let us give our full support,” he added.

A community leader for the Selako community in Lundu, Pemanca London Tasin said Mas Gading need a good MP who is able to serve the constituents.

“The constituents are wiser now and they knew very well who shall be the best person to serve them and they will vote for that person when the election comes,” said London.

Thus, he said the top BN’s leadership should pick the most winnable candidate for Mas Gading seat.

A political analyst from the constituency opined that Mawan should announce his candidate fast in order not to let the five aspiring candidates to wait until the last minute.
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Villagers still not heard of free housing at BDRS

Residents of the four villages affected by the RM310 million Bengoh Dam are still hopeful that they will be given free houses at the Bengoh Dam Resettlement Scheme (BDRS) although there has been no confirmation with regards to the matter.

On Saturday (March 10, 2012), during the ground breaking ceremony of the Rumah Mesra Rakyat housing project at BDRS, there was no official announcement made that the affected 204 families will get the house free.

Second Minister of Resource Planning and  Environment, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan did not mention anything that the houses will be given free to them.

When reporters asked him after he performed the ground-breaking ceremony of the housing project, Awang Tengah said there was no decision made on the matter as yet.

“There was no decision made yet on the matter (free house) because our main focus now is to build the 204 units of houses and the other necessary infrastructures,” he said.

Prior to this, 204 families from four villages, namely Kampung Taba Sait, Kampung Rejoi, Kampung Pa'in/ Bojong and Kampung Semban were hoping to be given free houses in BDRS and were waiting to hear the good news from the minister last Saturday.

However, after what they heard on Saturday, it appears that they are less convinced now that they will get the houses for free.

The construction of 204 housing units with a total cost of RM19 million at BDRS, located in Radien, Penrissen will start this month and is expected to be completed by December this year.

According to the Assistant Minister of Housing, Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, the houses would be implemented by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), through its contractor Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd.

Awang Tengah said the money is from the state government and is hoping that the federal government will reimburse the amount to the state government.

Each unit  is going to be built on a  24-point plot of land and equipped with three bedrooms.

A total of 204 families should have moved to the resettlement scheme in 2010 but was delayed due to the housing problems.

The affected villagers demanded that they be given free houses at the new resettlement schemes after they refused the offer by the Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) to build a house for them at a price of RM89, 000 per unit.

They rejected the offer because they do not want to burden themselves with bank loans.

Chairman of the liaisons committee on the resettlement, Itodio Peu said as the affected residents were forced to move out from their respective village, so it is just fair they are given free houses at the new settlement.

Villagers have urged Mambong MP, who is also Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos to fulfil his promises to help them to get the free home.

Peu when met at the ground breaking ceremony on Saturday said the villagers from the four villages would not move to BDRS until their demands are fulfil by the government.

The villagers had demanded they be given free houses, their land, crops and properties are fully compensated.

Peu also disagreed with the suggestion by the minister that primary school pupils from the four villages be moved and study at SK Bengoh,.

“The idea will only burden the pupils but also their parents.  The authority should build the schools and the necessary facilities such as community halls and churches first at BDRS before asking us to move to the resettlement scheme," he said.

He said, as a result of the implementation of the Bengoh Dam, 90 percent of crops such as rubber, cocoa, pepper and fruit trees owned by the villagers of Kampung Taba Sait was destroyed to make way for the dam construction.

According to Peu, the government has not paid compensations for their other properties such as  houses, land and crops not flooded by the dam’s water.

Peu said, apart from not receiving compensations, the villagers has also so far has not received monthly financial support as promised to them.

"We were promised payment of disturbance allowance but so far no payment has been made to us," he said.


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