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LABUAN: Parti Solidarti Tanah Airku (Star) chief here, Walther Philip Micheal (pic), regrets the exclusion of Kadazan Dusun and Indian representatives in the Labuan Corporation Advisory Council, calling it “unfair and unreasonable.”

He said it reflected failure of recognition of the multicultural reality of the island and the contributions of these communities over the years.   Walther asked if these communities were no longer relevant in shaping the island’s future.

He also queried the composition of the Board of Directors of Labuan Corporation as there only one appointed member while the four others were “outsiders”.

“The situation demonstrated that Labuan is being increasingly run in a highly centralised manner and not the Borneon way which values local voices, ethnic diversity and the principles of power sharing,” said Walther.

He also touched on the delay in the appointment of a Native Chief under the non-Muslim Bumiputra quota and expressed concern over the appointment process for this managed entirely by Federal authorities

“Federal authorities do not understand the importance of a Native Chief to the community in customs practices, social mediations and dealing with harmony and welfare matters,” said Walther.

He reminded that the controversial transfer of Labuan by Tan Sri Harris Salleh in 1984 was never intended to erase local participation and to centralise local authority absolutely. 

He said the handover was to ensure more efficient administration and without denying meaningful involvement by the local population.

“Governance directed from outside Labuan without deep understanding of the territory’s history, culture, social structure and reality runs contrary to the original purpose and interest of Labuan’s transfer (federalisation)”

He said while Labuan was not merely a federal administrative territory, its origins lie in Sabah on the island of Borneo, its ethnic diversity and way of life remain inseparable from Sabah social reality.

“Therefore, Labuan’s future should not be decided from afar without listening to the voices on the island,” said Walther.