A senior PBS leader said Inanam had been neglected for five years and the people there are primed for change.
PBS supreme council member William Majimbun, a native of Inanam, said rural folk living in villages along the Crocker Range are the ones most impacted following the last general election that saw the shock defeat of BN in the constituency.
“Let’s face it, the opposition assemblyman has no access to government funds.
“No money means there are no projects to help rural communities,” he said, adding however, that Inanam is fortunate to be part of the Sepanggar parliamentary constituency represented by BN MP Jumat Idris.
There have been funds from Jumat as well as the Chief Minister’s Department through the Community Development Leader for various minor projects in Inanam but these have been barely enough for the needs of the communities there.
Majimbun, a Native Court judge by virtue of him being the Kota Kinabalu District Chief, said Inanam folk are turning to him for help instead of seeking assistance from their elected representative, Dr Roland Chia.
“They know they can count on us as we have proven to be reliable,” he said.
Other BN officials said Chia’s move of filling up potholes on a short road stretch near Inanam two years ago was nothing more than a publicity stunt.
“He knows he needs to bring significant improvements to the lives of his constituents, such as building or repairing roads,” said Inanam Community Development Leader Fredolin Totin.
Inanam has evolved from a farming area to one with a mix of industrial zones, commercial areas, shopping malls, hotels and housing over the past two decades.
But the slow pace of life remains in villages on the Crocker Range such as Inanam, Bantayan, Babagon Toki and Poring Poring.
The Crocker Range hills also hold historical significance as this was where local guerillas led by Albert Kwok hid between their attacks against the occupying Japanese army during the Second World War.
The name Kionsom is also familiar among Kota Kinabalu folk as it is the location of a five-tiered waterfall that is a popular spot among picnickers.
Inanam had been considered a BN stronghold and its defeat in 2013 to PKR came as a shock.
PKR’s Chia won the seat with 8,926 votes, defeating BN’s Joseph Paulus Lantip, who obtained 5,724 votes, and SAPP’s Eric Majimbum, William’s brother, who received 5,003 votes.
Lantip was widely considered a last minute replacement of the then incumbent Johnny Goh, also of PBS.
Inanam has some 27,000 voters, 50% of whom are non-Muslim bumiputera, 30% Muslim bumiputera and 18% Chinese.
Majimbun said there were lessons to be learnt from the defeat and foremost was the need for unity among the coalition’s components at the constituency level.
“Perhaps there have been instances when certain components were overlooked. Everyone needs to know they have a role to play for us to win the seat,” he said.