Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah president Lajim Ukin said the system, which was used during the British colonial era, will be implemented within 100 days of the Gabungan administration if the pact wins in the 14th general election (GE14).
“After getting the mandate to govern the state, Gabungan vows to shuffle the existing administration and change it into the residency system.
“We will create eight divisions, including one that has Labuan, because this is the request of the rakyat from Labuan to have the island returned to Sabah. The residency will be called Victoria,” he said at the Gabungan national convention.
The residency system was scrapped when the Berjaya government was in power.
Lajim told supporters who packed the 1,000-capacity Hakka hall here that each of the residencies would be headed by a resident, or in essence a governor, who will have executive powers to run their respective divisions.
“The mechanism for the appointment of the administration members will be decided by the state secretary and will be tabled during Gabungan’s first cabinet meeting,” Lajim said.
The other proposed residencies are Gaya, which encompasses the west coast districts, Marudu for the northern districts, Kinabalu for districts within the Crocker Range, Kinabatangan and Segama for east coast districts, Trusmadi for interior districts and Padas for southwest districts.
Lajim claimed the current state administration was flawed, giving rise to matters like corruption, unfair distribution of funds, border security issues, lack of job opportunities, poor infrastructure management and planning, poor school facilities and a weak land application system.
“On education, every five years or when there is a change of minister, the policies will also change but Sabah ‘masih uncit’ (is still the last). If you go to the peninsula, there will be no dilapidated schools, only in Sabah.
“And it is modern times now but people in Kota Marudu are still using buffalo ambulances to transport the sick. I am not simply saying this but it came out in the newspapers.”
He said the present administration system also reduced Sabah, which was once a country, to a mere state in Malaysia.
“Sabah was once a country but now it is a state. This happened in 1976 when the federal government changed the constitution without discussing with the state government.
“That is why our identity cards now do not start with the word ‘H’ any more. It starts with our birth date and followed by the number ‘12’, which means Sabah has become the 12th state,” he said.
Lajim said the residency system to be introduced by Gabungan would spur economic and infrastructure development to new heights as well as return decision-making powers to the respective residents.
“There will be more job opportunities because the residencies will compete against each other. They can bring in their own investors and decide the kind of investment or industry best suited for them to create jobs.
“Land applications, including native customary lands, will also be expedited unlike now where some applicants have already passed on without ever seeing the land titles. The disbursement of government assistance will also be done more fairly and comprehensively.
“The system we have now is too centralised. All the powers belong to the chief minister, ministers or directors (among others).
“There is none at residency level but we will hand it down (to the residents),” he said.
Lajim said the Gabungan government would also reclaim important government positions and appoint qualified Sabahans to lead as well as absorb federal government agencies that have overlapping duties with state agencies.
“We want the main positions to be given to Sabahans … they can be the state police chief or even Sabah army chief. Why can’t Sabahans hold these positions as we have many professionals?
“What is important is that we have the authority because without it, ‘habuk pun tiada’ (even dust we will not have).
“That’s why Gabungan must get the two-thirds majority … (voters should) go all the way. If not, we will not be able to amend the constitution,” he said, adding that Gabungan would also look at amending the country’s petroleum legislation to seek more royalty from petroleum activities.
Present were Gabungan chairman Mohd Noor Mansoor and heads of the respective Gabungan parties, namely Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president Jeffrey Kitingan and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah (PPRS) president Mohd Arshah Abdul Mualap.