Najib and Adenan make a good team, says Salleh
Minister says PM is giving CM his full backing and Adenan should be given another five years to further develop Sarawak.
PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem make a good team, one in the Federal Government and the other in the state.
He said this is giving Sarawak voters the confidence that Najib and Adenan will be able to deliver what Sarawakians want through the Barisan Nasional, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Keruak said today in his blogpost.
“It is apparent that Najib is giving Adenan full backing and is supporting the chief minister in all his endeavours.
“Adenan is the sounding board for Sarawakians and the most important thing is that the prime minister is listening. That is giving the Sarawak voters the confidence in them.”
Salleh said most West Malaysians did not really know who Adenan was when he was appointed two years ago because he had always maintained a very simple life and a low-profile image his entire political career.
“Normally, a new leader is assessed based on his or her first 100 days in office. CM Adenan has been in office for almost 800 days and even the Opposition has grudgingly admitted that he has done a good job.
“You can see from the Sarawak election campaign that the Opposition has nothing much to criticise Adenan about.”
Salleh said Adenan had introduced many new policies since taking over as chief minister on Feb 28, 2014. He said among them were:
# The “Anak Sarawak” policy that declares equality for all Sarawakians, irrespective of ethnicity and religion. There is no longer any “lain-lain” while Chinese born in Sarawak are not classified as “pendatang”.
# Adenan recognised Chinese schools and its United Examination Certificate for Sarawak Foundation education loans and entry into the civil service.
# Independent Chinese schools received RM3 million in government aid in 2014, RM4 million last year and RM5 million this year.
# Sarawak reduced electricity tariff and ferry services rates.
# The Lanang and Baram bridge tolls have also been abolished.
# There is no Goods and Services Tax (GST) on municipal council services.
# Sarawak no longer issues any timber and plantation licences.
# Occupation Ticket licences (given for the clearing of land for plantations) have been cancelled or are not being renewed.
# Over 30 sawmills handling illegal logs have been closed down.
# 10% of forestland will be turned into national parks as part of forest conservation.
# Sarawak is increasing communal land while at the same time recognising Native Customary Rights (NCR) land by conducting perimeter and individual surveys to bring the land onto the register.
# Sarawak is also opening up opportunities for the natives to develop their land on a commercial basis.
# Amendment to the Sarawak Land Code enables Sarawak Bumiputeras to acquire NCR land outside of their own community.
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Salleh said Sarawakians were by and large very happy with these “reforms” and most are of the opinion that Barisan Nasional should be given another five years to see what more Adenan could do for Sarawak and for Sarawakians.