KINABATANGAN: Barisan Nasional leaders Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Datuk Jafry Ariffin have outlined water, electricity and infrastructure upgrades as their core priorities as they defend the Lamag and Sukau seats respectively in the Sabah election.
Bung, who is the Sabah Barisan chairman and Sabah Umno chief, said Lamag’s long-standing issues with basic facilities would be addressed with a more aggressive push for federal support.
He said the Pan Borneo Highway segment affecting Lamag remained the constituency’s biggest development driver, but required stronger pressure at the federal level to speed up allocation disbursement.
“There are the usual problems – unstable electricity and clean water shortages.
“We will tackle this within three years, particularly the clean water supply across Sabah,” he said on nomination day yesterday.
Bung also pledged to pursue a new sports complex for young people in the constituency, as well as a new administrative complex for both state and federal agencies.
“We will build it immediately on the hill land that has already been identified. This is needed so that district officials and agencies can deliver better services,” he said.
Touching on the six-cornered contest in Lamag, he described it as “a family contest”, noting that many candidates were relatives but stressed that Barisan had already prepared its machinery down to the polling district level.
“We will use small groups to reach every area, and maybe organise one major programme with youth, gathering 1,500 to 2,000 young people in Kinabatangan,” he said.
Jafry, who is defending Sukau, said he was determined to complete unfinished projects that stalled after he left the government during his first term.
(In 2023, Jafry who was then the state tourism, culture and environment minister, and Bung were dropped from the state Cabinet following a move to oust Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.)
He said Sukau’s large geography — spanning both river islands and inland villages — meant there were still gaps in community facilities.
“Many jetties, community halls and surau projects remain incomplete. I could not continue them because I was no longer part of the government,” he said.
“If given a fresh mandate, I am confident I can resolve the infrastructure problems, the bridges, and the ongoing water shortages felt by many villages in Sukau. Electricity supply is also still lacking in some remote island areas,” he added.
Jafry said Barisan had been preparing its machinery for the past two to three years, engaging voters on the ground throughout the constituency.
“We leave it to the voters to decide, but Barisan Nasional is ready,” he said.
Both Lamag and Sukau fall under the Kinabatangan federal constituency.
Bung is facing a six-cornered contest, while Jafry is up against six other candidates, including Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’s Datuk Juhari Janan.
