Sarawak akan terus stabil dan membangun - YAB KM Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Bin Mahmud

Politik S’wak utama pembangunan

by Agnes Tugong. Borneo Post on March 31, 2013, Sunday

KUCHING: Ketua Menteri Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud yakin bentuk politik di Sarawak tidak akan terpesong daripada apa yang sedang dilalui ketika ini meskipun selepas persaraannya suatu hari kelak.

PENGHARGAAN: Ketua Pengarah JASA, Datuk Fuad Tan Sri Hassan (kanan) menyampaikan cenderamata kepada Taib sebagai tanda penghargaan selepas Program Bicara Rakyat di Kuching, malam kelmarin. — Gambar Tan Song Wei

Ini kerana, menurut Taib, kebanyakan ahli-ahli politik di bawah kepimpinan beliau memiliki sifat pemimpin yang memberi tumpuan kepada pembangunan masyarakat mengikut dasar parti.

Justeru, beliau percaya dan yakin siapa jua pemimpin selepas beliau kelak, pemimpin tersebut pastinya tetap tidak akan terpesong daripada bentuk politik ketika ini mengikut dasar Barisan Nasional (BN).

“Kalau kita asyik berpolitik, kita akan terpesong kepada bentuk yang berlainan daripada usaha parti kita sekarang ini.

“Tetapi jika kita meneruskan hubungan mendekati orang bawahan khususnya rakyat, maka saya fikir kemungkinan bentuk politik ini akan berterusan dan lebih baik.

“Saya percaya siapa yang akan menjadi pemimpin selepas saya kelak akan meneruskan bentuk politik ketika ini kerana telah mendapat didikan daripada saya sendiri,” katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian dalam temu ramah bagi program Bicara Rakyat yang disiarkan secara langsung oleh RTM dari Kompleks Dewan Undangan Negeri Baharu di sini malam kelmarin.

Taib dalam temu ramahnya tidak menolak dalam politik memang ada individu yang jujur dan tidak kurang yang mahu kesempatan lebih untuk diri sendiri.

Namun katanya, pimpinan Sarawak mempunyai satu sistem memilih calon yang memberi tumpuan kepada pembangunan masyarakat serta bentuk kepimpinan yang ingin mencapai kemajuan di kawasan mereka.

Menyentuh mengenai pembangunan negeri ini, Taib yang telah memimpin Sarawak selama 32 tahun berkata, Sarawak sedang mempromosikan fasa kedua gelombang pembangunan iaitu Koridor Tenaga Diperbaharui Sarawak (SCORE).

SCORE, katanya menyaksikan perubahan dalam bentuk pekerjaan di mana 70 peratus daripada 800,000 pekerjaan yang diperlukan dalam pembangunan ini menuntut tenaga kerja teknikal yang berkemahiran tinggi.

Oleh sebab itu, katanya, kita telah memberi amaran dari awal lagi bahawa orang yang akan mendapat pekerjaan lebih cepat ialah orang yang mempunyai pendidikan teknikal dan bukan sebaliknya.

“Lima hingga 10 tahun lagi, kita akan kekurangan tenaga kerja teknikal dan siapa yang dapat merebut peluang pekerjaan dalam bidang ini akan menjadi pemegang kerja yang cukup tinggi pada masa akan datang.

“Oleh sebab itu, sama-samalah kita mencari jalan yang sesuai untuk mempersiapkan anak-anak kita agar tidak lagi tertumpu dengan cita-cita lama untuk menjadi doktor, peguam dan sebagainya, sebaliknya berubah kepada bidang jurutera, mekanik dan bidang-bidang teknikal yang lain,” katanya.

Program Bicara Rakyat malam kelmarin berlangsung selama satu jam dan turut dihadiri oleh Timbalan Ketua Menteri Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang serta barisan menteri-menteri kabinet yang lain termasuk ketua-ketua jabatan.

Urbanites still have faith in govt’

 Borneo Post on March 31, 2013, Sunday

KUCHING: Despite the fact that urban dwellers tend to support the opposition, they still have faith in the government, said Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on Friday.

The chief minister opined that the Internet had contributed much to this change in voting trend but believed confidence in the government could be boosted if the government was serious in providing answers to all queries raised.

Interviewed on RTM’s ‘Bicara Rakyat’, Taib felt that urbanites “could not give their attention to the government” because their experiences had led them to have different expectations from those of their rural counterpart.

He said since the urbanites grew up in city areas they could not understand the problems faced by rural folk.

“They enjoy the kind of development that may not be easy to be implemented in rural areas. They hope to see changes, especially if they were exposed to news from developed countries. This is what is happening in the urban centres,” he said in reply to a question posted by a caller.

Citing Bumiputras in the urban areas as an example, Taib said many of them understood that the successes were not gained automatically as they were from the rural areas and had seen efforts taken by the government to implement rural development.

“Of course, they do question us and expect us to give answers. It is, therefore, our challenge to give them the answers. But they did not lose their faith on us. Unfortunately, in Sarawak, there is only one group which is a bit problematic.

“Too bad, I’m a Bumiputera who can’t speak Mandarin. Many of my doctrines could not reach them, especially those who speak only Mandarin. This is the group with problems because they can’t understand our vision.”

On the question of security command posed by host Syed Munawar Syed Mustar, Taib said the government must inform the people, especially those who reside under the area of Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), about the latest development.

Sharing his experiences on Rajang Area Security Command (Rascom), Taib said people were scared when Rascom came into being due to a lack of confidence in the government.

“They didn’t have confidence that the government could protect them. However, with stern actions carried out by the government coupled with other measures, we successfully restored their confidence.

“As such, it is essential to boost the confidence of the people when we are facing guerrilla warfare. We need to tell the people that the government will definitely help and protect them from harm. As long as the people have confidence on us, we will gain victory.”

In the one-hour interview titled ‘Sarawak Melangkah Gagah’, Taib also shared his experiences on how he helped to turn Sarawak from a state with an income per capital of RM680 in 1963 to RM40,000 in 2012.

He attributed the success to the 27 ethnic groups in Sarawak, whom he said were aware of the importance of unity to ensure the state could progress further.