Labuan PBS division chief Datuk Peter Mak
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) is still hopeful that the Federal Government will eventually agree to the building of the Sabah-Labuan bridge despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim saying it was not a priority.
Labuan PBS division chief Datuk Peter Mak said they understood the premier’s position on the proposed bridge, agreeing that the Federal Territory island has more pressing needs.
Mak said they appreciated Anwar’s concern to urgently resolve the long overdue problematic issues surrounding the water and electricity supplies which have burdened the people.
He said, however, also equally important was the construction of the Sabah-Labuan bridge.
The proposed bridge, he added, has remained the hope of the Labuan people for a long time, not as a luxury but as basic infrastructure and connectivity between the island and mainland Sabah.
“This is the pulse of the people and will remain so,” he said, in a statement on Thursday (Dec 14).
“Therefore, the provision of this basic infrastructure should not be viewed, though important, solely from the perspective of economic returns but also as part of the government's social obligations to the people.
“Labuan PBS is glad that while the Prime Minister, who celebrated his first year in office recently, rightly said that the proposed bridge is not a priority at the moment, he did not shelve the prospect of its construction,” Mak added.
During his visit to Labuan on Dec 7, Anwar said the Federal Government would focus on resolving basic infrastructure issues involving the people instead of implementing major development projects which can be deferred.
The Prime Minister said the proposed construction of a RM6bil bridge to link Labuan with Sabah was an old proposal and was not a priority for the government as it did not make economic sense to build it.
“In Labuan's development plans, we take measures to quickly settle key issues affecting the people, like water supply.
“I can't accept it if basic problems are still not resolved while driving rapid economic growth and attracting hundreds of billions of ringgit in investment,” Anwar said.
