MONDAY-14TH JANUARY 2008-CHONG VOWS TO SERVE SANDAKAN PEOPLE

Chong vows to continue to serve Sandakan people

SANDAKAN:

The independent Member of Parliament for Sandakan, Chong Hon Min, has vowed to continue to do his utmost best for the people here. The elected representative who defeated incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Lau Ngan Siew in the 2004 election, said his priority now is to continue serving his constituents. “The general election is still far off and I’m not thinking about it. I want to focus on ensuring the plight of the people in Sandakan is heard,” he said. Chong also stressed that even though he contested as an independent candidate in the previous election, his unwavering support is still with the BN. “I will continue to support the BN to ensure continued development in the area for the people,” he said, adding that he had applied to join the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) which is a component of BN on April 17, 2006 but had yet to receive any favourable reply. His intention to join BN has been made known to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, he said and pointed out that the BN Government has the best policies for the people. Chong also disclosed that in the past four years as the Sandakan MP, he had forwarded many of the identified problems in the constituency to the Government.
“The problems in the constituency which I brought up were also acknowledged by other elected representatives, especially from among the BN backbenchers in Parliament,” he said. Among the problems which have been given attention by the Government are on water supply to the district and frequent electricity disruption, he said, adding that he had also raised the problems concerning the presence of illegal immigrants in the district as well as the rampant electricity theft.