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1st September, 2008
KOTA KINABALU: Different political parties in Sabah all agreed on the critical problems faced by the state such as the illegal immigrant issue but are unable to work together to effectively address them due to their political differences.
Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Yong Teck Lee said political parties in Sabah are divided by their incoherent political stand, preventing them from effectively joining forces in addressing issues affecting the people.
“It appears that it is better to have more parties but in the end there are too many voices but no unity,” he said during the party’s convention on Sabah issues held at Bukit Padang yesterday.
Yong in calling for political parties in Sabah to put their heads together to address the issues faced by the state, said it was time for everyone to quit focusing too much on playing political games and start to seriously think about the future and the interest of people.
“If we cannot unite under one political party, why can’t we at least unite to tackle the common issues that we face? After all, we all agree these issues do matter to the people,” said the former Chief Minister.
Various topics including illegal immigrants, poverty, land and issues on imbalanced political and economic distribution between the state and the peninsula were brought at the convention attended by more than 1,000 SAPP members.
Briefly commenting on the presence of illegal workers in Sabah, Yong claimed the problem was partially caused by the fact that it was much easier and less expensive for foreigners to acquire fake documents than to go through the proper channel to get travel documents and working permits.
“Foreigners would have to go through various procedures to pay thousands of ringgit to work here legally. So, they opt for the easier way,” he said.
In this regards, he urged the authorities to consider making it cheaper and easier to apply for work permits.
“At the same time, the authorities should ensure that measures are taken to stop irresponsible people from supplying foreigners with fake documents,” he added.
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