The 45-year-old former Puteri Umno chief is a popular figure among the electorate, who have always known her as one of their own before her rise through the party ranks.
A lawyer by profession, she is currently the deputy works minister. This means she is away from her constituency Papar most of the time.
However, it does not mean she has neglected her duties of serving the people who elected her. As much as her schedule permits, Rosnah will come home, usually on weekends, to attend functions in various parts of her constituency.
It is not an easy task as Papar, which lies some 40km from here, is huge and diverse in terms of geography and population.
But although she is loved by her constituents, this does not mean that the 61% Muslim Bumiputera, 30% non-Muslim Bumiputera and 9% Chinese population will not speak up if they think she has fallen short of their expectations.
One of the most prevalent complaints from the locals is their claim that Rosnah has failed to come up with new projects that benefit the people, or that she has failed to bring development to the constituency.
However, Rosnah denies this, saying several important projects have been carried out in Papar over the last five years, with many more already in the pipeline.
“I am saddened to hear such complaints, but it only means we have not been able to reach out to the people and tell them what we have done. Perhaps that is something we should improve,” she said.
She added that her office had done more than give personal donations at weddings and funerals, or channel grievances to the relevant departments and ministries.
“The Papar Hospital, for example, is currently undergoing the second phase of its RM100 million upgrading project. The first phase has already been completed where the haemodialysis centre was extended so that patients no longer have to travel to Kota Kinabalu or Beaufort for treatment.
“We are also going to build a four-storey building at the hospital grounds so we can accommodate more patients,” she said.
People’s housing projects
Rosnah said the government has also approved the construction of two new sports complexes in the Papar constituency – one in Papar town itself and another in Beringgis, about 12km from Papar.
She said the government was also addressing the people’s housing problems with the construction of two people’s housing projects, both in Kinarut, not far from Beringgis, and two PR1MA housing projects, also in Kinarut.
Construction of the Pan Borneo Highway project is underway, with the 30km package connecting Papar to Kinarut expected to be completed by next year, she added.
“We also spent RM1 million to build and repair 20 bridges, five of which are in Kaiduan, because many of the bridges were damaged after the big flood in August last year.
“My office also gave funds to repair mosques, churches and temples because we know this will benefit the people directly,” she said.
Despite these achievements, Rosnah admitted she could have done more for the people, such as permanently resolve the drainage problem that caused the massive flood last year.
However, with the general election fast approaching, Rosnah said she hoped her record so far would convince the people to give her another opportunity to serve them the way she has done all these years.
“Have I done enough to convince the people to vote for BN again? I think so, but I don’t want to stop yet. My hope is to carry on the efforts to develop Papar,” Rosnah said.
In the last general election in 2013, Rosnah defeated PKR’s Yahya Lampong, a former Tanjung Aru Umno chief. She obtained 21,196 votes to his 10,661.
This time around, she expects her competition to come from local opposition party, Parti Warisan Sabah, whose leaders have been actively campaigning against her since last year.