I never took a single log from Sabah, says Anwar

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the PMX Sayang Sabah Mega Talk event in Kota Kinabalu tonight. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is visiting Sabah, said his presence in the state was not for personal gain, but to fulfil the promise to safeguarding the rights and future of the people of the state.

Through more than a decade of holding various positions in the government, including the period before becoming prime minister, he had never profited in Sabah, because his governance principles have always been based on integrity, he said.

“I have been a minister for more than 10 years, but I have never taken a single log from Sabah, I have not taken any contracts, and I have not taken any land… I come to look after the people, to carry out the trust,” he said when speaking at the PMX Sayang Sabah Mega Talk here tonight.

Anwar said the commitment of the Madani government was to ensure that Sabah’s development continues to receive due attention, including the historic step of returning regulatory control over electricity to the state government in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

However, the state government stated that they faced a lack of funds to resolve the electricity supply problem, causing the federal government to channel an additional RM1.2 billion to ensure the issue is comprehensively addressed, he said.

“This is Sabah’s right and we returned it, but when Sabah said they didn’t have enough money, we immediately helped, because this is a trust,” he said, adding that more than 1,000 solar electricity poles have been installed in Sabah’s interior areas through the Solar Madani initiative, making the state one of the earliest recipients of the programme.

Anwar said the federal government also does not dismiss the people’s complaints about basic infrastructure like roads, as he himself experienced driving on potholed roads during his working visits to the state.