Be Wary of Internal Colonization - Dr. Jeffrey

KOTA KINABALU:   “Sabahans should not be too excited with the establishment of the first UTC (Urban Transformation Centre) in Kota Kinabalu.   It is nothing more than another subtle step in the internal colonization of Sabah” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief,on the opening of the first UTC at Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu.

“Why is there a need to waste money setting up an UTC which cannot be done by the existing federal and state departments and agencies from their existing offices?  asked Dr. Jeffrey.

It’s a sheer waste of public funds and show that the existing departments and agencies are not operating efficiently that it needs to be done at an UTC.

It is nothing more than a political gimmick with fanciful advertising for the PM and a ploy of the federal government to gain a foothold and control the individual states, Sabah in this case.  Don’t be surprised that it will be dismantled when a new Prime Minister takes over the reins in Putrajaya. 

From an equal partner in the formation of Malaysia in 1963, it has been a downward spiral for Sabah resulting in its downgrading from an equal partner to be the 12th State and exploitation of Sabah’s wealth and resources.  The end result, Sabah the poorest State and an internal colony.

The Sabah government and its control and jurisdiction is slowly and surely being diluted and boxed in.  Unlike the other States in the Peninsula, the federal government has created a parallel government in Sabah with the establishment of the Federal Secretary Office.

In reality, Malaya masquerading as the federal government of Malaysia is ruling and exploiting Sabah as a mere colony and raping its rich resources including all the federal revenue and 95% of its oil and gas resources to fund lop-sided and biased development in Malaya.  In 2014, Petronas and the federal government is expected to receive RM26.6 billion from Sabah’s oil and gas resources alone.   As the oil producing State, Sabah will only receive RM1.4 billion.

On the local front, federal departments and agencies are being spread out and expanded flush with federal funding that deals directly with the people and often overtaking and usurping the roles of the local Sabah agencies.   They are even staffed by Malayans depriving the locals of proper job opportunities who are often left with low-ranking and menial jobs.

There is no implementation of the Borneonization policy with more than 80%-90% of federal department and agencies being headed by Malayans, many of them Muslims.  When queried, the standard federal government is that the locals are not qualified and not capable to hold such positions.  What a lie?

The roles and importance of local departments and agencies are diminished and some to the extent of being made redundant and closed.  If unchecked, the Sabah government may one day find itself being mere postmen and office boys carrying out instructions from their political masters in Putrajaya.

On the other extreme end, Sabah has 53.5% of the abject poor households and 39.3% of the poor households in the nation.This is a statistic from the PM’s Department itself.  In addition, many of Sabah’s basic facilities and amenities are third-rate, some worse than third-rate.  

While other Malaysians in Malaya enjoy good sealed roads comparable to developed countries, Sabahans get only dirt and gravel roads and made to inhale dust daily from the use of these so-called “roads”.   Many do not enjoy clean treated water, some not even gravity-fed water supply.

After 50 years in Malaysia, Sabah is in a pathetic state with many, many poor Sabahans.  At the same time, the locals especially the natives are over-run by illegal immigrants.  Many of them are the products of Project IC and Ops Durian Buruk and are given ICs and MyKads with voting rights and privileges as “bumiputras Islam” at the expense of the local natives.

The people of Sabah need to awaken to the internal colonization of their homeland and take action to stop Kuala Lumpur and Malaya’s colonial rule and exploitation.   Sabahans need to unite to regain Sabah’s rights and dignity as an independent sovereign nation within the Federation, equal only to Malaya and Sarawak, not as the 12th subservient State.

“We need to rescue Sabah from the control and hegemony of Umno/Malaya.  Sabah does not belong to Malaya or Malaysia.   Without Sabah, there is no Malaysia” said Dr. Jeffrey.