Mandut (left) and Sazalye
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Marudu has developed progressively, said Christoper Mandut, the Political Secretary to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.
“As someone who was born and bred in Kota Marudu, I believe I am the best person to say that the district has developed by leaps and bounds over the years. Kota Marudu is a growing town, and catching up with developed towns in Sabah, and in fact, even much better than some in the state.
“Yes, we will not be ashamed to admit that there is still room for improvements, but Kota Marudu is developing progressively. The poverty belt is mainly amongst the hill tribes of Kota Marudu like those in Sonsogon, Gana and Magandai, but our urban areas can compete with others like Penampang and Papar.
Our town is thriving. Kota Marudu has almost 50,000 acres of oil palm, agriculture, and our paddy plantation is the second largest in Sabah, after Kota Belud,” he said.
Mandut was responding to Parti Keadilan Rakyat Kota Marudu chief Sazalye Donol’s accusation against Maximus, who is the Member of Parliament for Kota Marudu, for failing to take care of Kota Marudu until it is listed not only as the poorest district in Sabah but also in Malaysia.
Mandut also questioned Sazalye of PKR’s contributions, as well as him, on the development of Sabah, particularly Kota Marudu.
“In fact, I believe poverty worsen during their two years in power, and there was hardly any development in Kota Marudu during that period, which they can be proud of,” he said and advised Sazalye to stop being a puppet and be used to criticise and point fingers to blame others for their own failures.
Mandut also questioned Sazalye what PKR had done during their two years in power, when they hardly distributed zincs to fix houses.
“I believe, our Member of Parliament has done a lot for Kota Marudu. In Matunggong alone, 22 longhouses have been built, and another two more coming. What did PKR do for Kota Maruduians?
“In fact, during the last election, they (PKR) spoke so much but yet, in the end, post-election, they did not do anything because they lost badly.
“So do not blame others if you have nothing good to tell about yourself,” he said.
In a statement on Sunday, Sazalye expresssed regrets the fact that Sabah, despite being rich in natural resources as well as being a popular tourist destination is reported to be the poorest state in the country.
He said that it was reported by the media that the poorest districts in the country are Pitas, Tongod and Kota Marudu.
“This is not something to be proud of. Sabah is the state with the richest resources in the country. Not only crude oil, but Sabah’s palm oil, timber and rubber production is among the largest in the country.
“And Sabah is no stranger to the tourism sector as the state dominates in tourism from the seabed to the mountain tops. This clearly proves that Sabah should be the richest state in Malaysia. But why is Sabah the poorest state in Malaysia?” he said.