Despite decades of BN rule, there has been little development in the Penampang district.
KOTA KINABALU: Upper Moyog, in the Penampang district which covers 466 sq km, has a 10,000-strong population and no secondary school. It’s Kadazandusun turf and has been a Barisan Nasional stronghold for decades.
The closest secondary school is St Michael, which is a RM3-bus ride (return trip) away from Upper Moyog.
According to Sabah STAR party’s central committee member Willybroad Missi, some 500 children from Upper Moyog travel to the secondary school each day and others whose parents cannot afford the ride stay home.
“Building a school for Upper Moyog should have been a priority for Penampang leaders since a long time ago, but for some reason it was overlooked.
“Just imagine: the nearest secondary school for them is St Michael’s Secondary School and the distance is putting a lot of strain on them.
“From Pogunon, the one-way bus fair is RM1.50, hence RM3 is spent daily on transport alone. This does not include other expenses for food and drinks.
“If this is tough, imagine what it is like for those staying in areas which are much further such as Babagon, Kivunut, Moyog and Togudon.
“Let’s remember that these students are from poor farming families,” said Missi
He said there was an urgent need for a school and a hostel to accommodate the children from remote villages.
“The school should be equipped with a proper hostel to cater to the needs of those students who come from remote areas like Kampung Terian.
“If necessary, I will personally lend a hand to help find a suitable site for such a secondary school, which, I feel, should ideally be located in Pogunon or Madsiang. ” he said.
No development
The MP for Penampang is Bernard Dompok. Dompok is also the president of Upko and a federal minister. The Moyog state constituency is represented by Donald Mojuntin.
Mojuntin is in his third term as state assemblyman and, according to Missi, has done nothing.
Missi took to task both Dompok and Mojuntin, who have been re-elected term-after-term to represent Penampang parliamentary and the Moyog state constituencies.
He said it is most likely that these leaders were not even aware of the needs in Upper Moyog or the other areas in the parliamentary constituency.
He added that it was ironical that Penampang, whose closest border is 10km from Kota Kinabalu, is seen as a suburban and progressive area when most of the remote villages in the district are still crying out for development.
“As the BN MP of Penampang and Upko (party) president, Dompok has failed to look into this pressing need of his constituency.
“He has had held so many important posts, but he has never got a single school built in Penampang.
“I also take to task Mojuntin for failing to look into the problem. He has served three terms, but what has he done for Upper Moyog?” asked Missi.
WHEN WE BECOME INDEPENDENT WE CAN BUILT AS MANY SCHOOL AS WE WANT WITH OUR WEALTH....
ReplyDeleteNON SABAH NO SARAWAK MANA ADA MALAYSIA!
KELUAR MALAYSIA!
CORRECTION "AS MANY SCHOOLS"
ReplyDeleteBlame it on UMNO education!
Blame it on your wakil rakyat Bernard Dompok and Mojuntin.They are so busy lobbying for projects for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe MP and ADUN must do the right thing for the people. Who knows they have proposed it but everything has to depend on the allocation.
DeleteItu lah salah orang Penampang kena kasi $50 sudah undi UPKO tanpa fikir masak-masak.Apa sudah jadi? Sekarang berapa kena bayar tambang bas pergi sekolah dalam 5 tahun?
ReplyDeleteOii.. Anon 07:15 keturunan ko mungkin yang ambil tu RM50
Deletewakil rakyat perlu usahakan agar sekolah yang diperlukan dapat dibina.
ReplyDeleteDiharap wakil rakyat di area tersebut dapat mengusulkan pembinaan sekolah di kawasan berhampiran.
DeleteThe local MP's and People Representatives have the duty to help the locals solve their problems and their problem is not having a school near by so that their kids can attend school with no transportation problems.
DeleteHopefully the Upper Moyog folks will get their wish soon, a Secondary School should be set up for their convenient.
ReplyDeletependidikan amat penting, jadi binalah sekolah berdekatan kawasan tersebut.
ReplyDeleteMemang wajar sebuah sekolah menengah dibina berdekatan dengan kawasan Moyog. Bukan semua pelajar tersebut berasal dari keluarga yang senang dan kadang2 ada yang tidak ke sekolah kerana terpaksa membantu keluarga. Pendidikan itu penting dan semua rakyat Sabah berhak mendapatkan pendidikan.
ReplyDeleteinstead of build another school, why not suggest them to provide free hostels??
ReplyDeleteif the only solution is to provide a new school, then all kampung in this state also should have it's own primary and secondary school even the kampung had less than 100 populations..
ReplyDeleteThe state education department should be given power on decision-making and the implementation of development projects, especially maintenance, training and recruitment of teachers.
ReplyDeleteThis will allow the department to manage their own allocations based on the concept ‘Let managers manage’ and son on, as mentioned by the State Education Director Datuk Dr Muhiddin Yusin
Currently the department is not empowered to manage any allocation for development even if it is for projects costing below RM500,000.
He said this is despite present regulations which state the department can decide on projects worth below RM500,000.
“This regulation has been stated in the Arahan Perbendaharaan (Treasury directive) more than 10 years ago,” he said.
He was commenting on the recent suggestion by State Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Salleh Tun Said that the Sabah Education Department be given more power and autonomy.
According to Salleh, many school buildings in the Sabah are in need of repair and educational projects are not carried out systematically due to having to refer simple matters to Putrajaya, which jeopardises the Government efforts in developing education in Sabah.
Salleh acknowledged the capability of Muhiddin as head of the education department, in that he well versed in the context of local needs, hence felt it unnecessary, or alternatively, to minimise the requirement for local education officers to attend meetings held in Kuala Lumpur.