KINABATANGAN: Voters here are torn between loyalty and local sentiments as Barisan Nasional and Warisan campaigners pitch for support ahead of the polling day on Saturday (Jan 24).
While the residents, who are mainly of the Orang Sungai ethnicity and involved in agriculture, living in far flung villages are warming up with campaigners, their thoughts weigh between the choice of a national party or a local party in the three-cornered contest for the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat.
A 26-year-old resident who wanted to be known only as Ricko felt that people were keeping an open mind though they would have preferred a wider array of candidates.
"Many of us had hoped for other parties to join in,” he observed, adding that he would decide closer to election day on the three candidates - Barisan's Mohd Naim Kurniawan Moktar, Datuk Saddi Abdul Rahman (Warisan) and independent Goldam Hamid.
The Sungai folks in the upper reaches of Sungai Kinabatangan are said to be inclined towards local parties.
However, despite being a local party, Warisan does not have much political clout in the Barisan stronghold as it also finds it difficult to shed off the lingering tagging of "PTI (illegal immigrant) friendly,” a campaign by their fellow local party opponents used to undermine them in native seats.
Undeterred, Warisan vice-president Terrance Siambun and youth chief Tarrence Au, with their team of campaigners, pitched for "Parti Lokal” among the people as they criss-crossed the kampungs over the last few days.
"Let us be in one heart as Sabahans. Support a Sabah party, let us not be divided,” Siambun told villagers at Kampung Saguan as the party takes on an uphill battle to win the seat.
The Barisan machinery is seen as more organised in all the 10 polling districts in Kuamut with its campaigners keeping in touch with voters on a daily basis.
Naim, who has been on political the ground, continues to push for development and continuity through Barisan, a seat held by his father Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin from 1999 until his death on Dec 5, 2025.
Many locals credited Bung Moktar with getting the federal government to set up a modern rural clinic, police station, primary and secondary schools as well as sealing many of the rural roads linking the far flung villages with the main administrative centre in the Tongod district.
For the locals, Bung Moktar remains a towering figure in their district and Naim could be riding on a wave of goodwill and legacy left by his late father.
Naim, 31, is undisturbed by his opponents' campaigns about local versus national parties.
"Other candidates have raised the issue of local parties. In my view, it does not matter which party a candidate represents. What matters is that the people are wise enough to judge who is truly capable of serving and delivering results. I am also from Kinabatangan, I am local, and I am Orang Sungai,” he said.
Throughout the campaign around the Tongod district, he said the response and turnout have been very encouraging.
"However, numbers alone are not my measure of success. What matters most to me is understanding the real challenges faced by the community, so that I can properly plan my work if I am elected,” he added.
He said there was a strong and positive opportunity for Barisan as the party has taken steps towards change by putting forward a young candidate and this is the right time for Barisan to move forward together as part of that change.
Tongod, which is one of the poorest districts in the nation and home to the Imbak Canyon, has yet to gain from the spin-off from tourism and oil palm that is being enjoyed by the people in the lower Kinabatangan, comprising Lamag and Sukau.
Amid the low key campaign in the upper reaches of the Kinabatangan River, the people of Tongod only hope for the state government to expedite their land applications.
