KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno is not sabotaging the "Sabah Maju Jaya" (SMJ) slogan pushed by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Sabah Umno election director Jeffrey Nor Mohamed said that there was no issue about sabotaging the state SMJ plans but they were just pointing out the failures of the state government to meet the aspirations of the people under the SMJ development plans.
"There is no issue for Sabah Umno to sabotage or fear this (SMJ) slogan because it will not reduce the people's support for Umno.
"SMJ has so far failed to improve the people's standard of living.
"For the people, they continue to wait for basic infrastructure such as proper roads, clean water supply, uninterrupted electricity and better living standards," he said on Monday (Mar 25).
Jeffrey was responding to Hajiji's accusation that GRS' opponents were sabotaging and criticising the GRS government's road map to bring progress and development for the people of the state.
"We (Umno) will not raise this (SMJ) issue. The people are struggling and they want us to convey to the Government their needs.
"At the same time, people are also complaining and highlighting their plight via social media platforms," he said.
Jeffery said that government and GRS leaders needed to be open-minded in accepting criticism from the people and fulfil the aspirations of the people in line with the SMJ if it was implemented genuinely would benefit the people.
Jeffrey also reminded Hajiji that he was part of the Sabah Barisan Nasional government (1994-2018) before taking over in September 2020 and as such he should not blame the previous government for failing to develop Sabah.
"Hajiji himself was a product of the past government and held an important position in the state Cabinet," Jeffrey added.
Jeffrey said the SMJ issue was among many others.
Former Sipitang Umno chief Datuk Kamarlin Ombi suggested the state government set up an independent team to assess the success of the SMJ that had become a daily conversation among the people and state leaders.
Kamarlin suggested that the state government entrust the task of making the assessment to an independent research body like University Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
"There is no end to the protracted polemics around SMJ as it just confuses the people.," he said, adding that an independent body can clearly assess the effectiveness of the four-year development targets under SMJ that ends next year.
