Sabah civil service: ‘Chief secretary is lying’

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KOTA KINABALU: Chief secretary to the government Dr Ali Hamsa’s credibility has come under question following his latest statement that “almost” all federal departments and agencies in Sabah are headed by Sabahans.

Sabah STAR chairman Jeffrey Kitingan said in statement here that the announcement sounded very much like another unsubstantiated pre-election lie.

“It sounds like a lie, part of the [Barisan Nasional] strategy to placate Sabah voters.

“Just recently a survey of 50 federal departments in Sabah showed that more than 85% of departments were headed by Peninsular Malaysians.

“In fact, many posts, even in the lower ranks such as systems analysts, clerks and even office boys, were from the Peninsula,” he said.

Jeffrey said that if Ali was sincere, he would have listed out all the departments and agencies headed by Sabahans instead of just four.

“It must be remembered that there are more than 50 federal departments and around 70 federal agencies in Sabah.

“Why did chief secretary [Ali] mention only four departments and no agency headed by Sabahans?

“The issue of Borneonisation has been a bone of contention since 1963, which was 49 years ago – almost half a century.

“But it seems the federal government has little interest in resolving the problem,” said Jeffrey.

Rampant discrimination

He also pointed out that there was an imbalance in Sabah and Sarawak representations at federal level.

“There is also the serious issue of gross imbalance in the roles given to Sabah and Sarawak at the federal level, which is again heavily dominated by Peninsular Malaysians.

“Just look at the federal Cabinet which has 30 to 34 ministries, but Sabah and Sarawak are given very few ministerial posts, which, if combined, do not even reach one third of the total.

“This discrimination against the Borneo states is even more glaring in the case of appointment of commissioners and ambassadors.

“Out of 80 foreign nations with which we have diplomatic relations only one each is given to Sabah and Sarawak.

“It is a clear case of taking the Borneo states for granted, and treating us with a very condescending attitude.

“For this, the Sabah and Sarawak BN leaders should be speaking up for rights and justice but they continue to keep quiet.”

“The Malaysian partnership must be based on shared roles and responsibilities, with fair and equitable participation from all states.

“If this continues to be ignored, I am afraid it will lead to rising dissatisfaction and eventually to political instability,” he said.