Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili speaking to reporters on Saturday.
KOTA MARUDU: It is a "bergigit-gigit" race in Sabah’s northern Kota Marudu where it will see two local heavyweight candidates facing off against each other.
Six candidates are battling for the seat here but locals see that the actual fight is between veteran leader Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili (GRS-Barisan) and influential local politician Datuk Wetrom Bahanda (Parti KDM).
"Bergigit" in the local Sabah slang, loosely means at each other’s throats or being neck-and-neck in a stiff competition.
Ongkili, who is seeking to retain the seat for a seventh consecutive term, is putting up a tough fight in his defence of the constituency which has been dubbed as one of the poorest districts in the country.
The Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president was earlier speculated to have a difficult time to stave off Wetrom whose influence had steadily grown after winning the Bandau state seat in the 2020 Sabah snap polls.
When you drive around Kota Marudu, which is more than twice the size of Perlis at 1,917km sq, it is obvious Wetrom, who is making his parliamentary election debut, has won the poster wars.
Wetrom’s banners and the KDM flags somewhat outnumber his GRS rival roughly by 2:1, not to mention the other four candidates vying for the seat.
However, the KDM deputy president must not be too comfortable as the GRS-Barisan components were also backing up Ongkili, who was at mid-way point and is seen as being able to turn around the campaign in his favour.
On Saturday (Nov 12), Ongkili flew in with PBS vice-president Hendrus Anding in a helicopter to Kampung Gana, an agropolitan village deep in Kota Marudu which is about 40km uphill, to canvass for support from the 1,114 voters in the area.
The village, which actually comprises 10 villages, was seen as a vital area, which Wetrom was also keen to conquer in his quest to unseat Ongkili.
"We leave it to the electorate to decide. We’re sincere about becoming a vessel for the development of the area here," Ongkili said when asked about the public opinion on his capability to still be able to lead the constituency.
He added that throughout his terms in Kota Marudu, he had brought in developments in terms of providing basic necessary infrastructure such as roads and building schools in the villages here.
"These are the developments (that I’ve brought), which didn’t come by chance. It involved proper planning and working closely with the civil servants.
"If you put Kota Marudu alongside other districts, I think we’ve been doing very well," he told reporters after his speech here on Saturday (Nov 12).
Mohd Nazmi Umbit said the people in Kampung Sonsogon-Paliu, one of the villages in Kampung Gana, had never been let down by Wetrom so far, more so after he was elected as the Bandau assemblyman.
"When there is difficulty such as someone passing or for example just recently, there was a fire in a village here, he will not hesitate to give assistance.
"He also gives donations to the surau here and when we call, he will even come in person to our remote village.
“He is a Kota Marudu native and he knows the problems faced by the people here,” said the 48-year-old farmer, adding they felt Ongkili had failed to resolve various issues including completion of housing for the hardcore poor people despite his long service as the MP.
"He (Ongkili) is also rarely seen here," Nazmi claimed, adding that "today was the first time I saw him after a while and he came in a chopper. Sometimes, you just want to feel your leaders as one of the villagers”.
But not everyone was convinced that Wetrom was the answer to their woes as Wong Sui Ming, another resident at Gana, would attest.
“He is seen as a turncoat. On the other hand, Ongkili is seen as a consistent leader who has helped the community for so many years," he said.
While appreciating the development brought in by Ongkili, youths in Kampung Gana also desired more job opportunities in the area.
Rainon Ining, 32, said as the population of the village grew, more youths had to venture out to earn a living as there were not enough jobs in the village and the town.
"Ongkili is doing well as he brought in a lot of developments. However, at the same time we need more, especially for the youths.
"We have youths who had to travel to the cities to find jobs such as to the peninsula and even overseas, in Japan.
"They work in the manufacturing line. We want more job opportunities here, probably by turning Kampung Gana into a tourist attraction as well. We have a lot to offer to the tourists," the father of two said.
The civil servant said the majority of the locals here work in the plantation sectors, which the youths have less interest in.
Ongkili’s chances of retaining the seat have also been bumped up after division heads from other GRS component parties such as Sabah STAR and Sabah Bersatu seemed to have rallied behind the veteran state leader.
Among those backing him was his former nemesis Datuk Maijol Mahap who had contested against Ongkili thrice before for the seat.
Mahap, who is now the Kota Marudu Bersatu information chief, stood as a Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah candidate in the last general polls and was Ongkili’s closest contender, losing by only 1,774 votes after garnering 11,259 ballots against the latter’s 13,033.
