SANDAKAN, March 25 – Roadshow programmes such as the ‘Yayasan Sabah’ with the rakyat provide clear evidence of the Barisan Nasional-ruled (BN) Sabah Government’s track record in providing development and progress to the people and state.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman(Pic) said the programmes, apart from showing the BN Government to the people, also allowed it to explain achievements through various activities carried out by its agencies.
“We dare to meet the people to show proof of our track record. For instance, not many are aware that Yayasan Sabah is spending about RM20 million annually, for its schoolchildren assistance programmes,” he said. He was speaking at the launch of the Yayasan Sabah, with the rakyat roadshow for the North East Coast Yayasan Sabah (NECYS) zone at Dewan Sri Libaran here today.
Musa said the youths had been asking the government what else the government could do for them. Therefore, he said, the government took the initiative to create more job opportunities for the people, particularly youth, through development projects such as the more than RM500 million Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) project by Yayasan Sabah Group, which is expected to provide 10,000 jobs.
According to the chief minister, the government had established various programmes for the youths. However, the younger generation must not be too selective, aiming only for white-collar jobs.
“As the state government strives to bring more job opportunities to the young people, it wants to attract more and bigger investors to Sabah,” he said, adding that it was vital for the government to be strong and stable.
He said, among the achievements of Yayasan Sabah through its Transformation Programme was to train about 15,000 youths in its RM250 million Handicraft Centre in Keningau. The Yayasan Sabah Group, as the state government’s number one agency would continue to hold programmes and activities to help the people in Sabah, assured Musa, who is also Yayasan Sabah board of trustees chairman.
Meanwhile, Yayasan Sabah director Tan Sri Khalil Jamalul said, between 2005 and last year, the foundation, via the North East Coast Zone, had built 44 houses under the Low-Cost Housing for the Hardcore Poor; 15 bridges and 28 gravity pipes for the people here.
Apart from the programme launched in Kudat on March 23, similar programmes would be held next in Ranau (March 27); Kota Kinabalu (March 30, 31); Tawau (April 7); Keningau (April 13); and conclude in Beaufort (April 14). Later, Musa witnessed the handing over of cheques totalling RM18,500 in personal contributions from members of parliament and state assemblymen in the Northern East Coast zone, to the Lahad Datu Heroes Fund.
Datuk Raymond Tan handed over the cheques to Sandakan police chief ACP Rowell Marong.
BERNAMA
