Kota Kinabalu: Sindumin Assemblyman Yusri Pungut has called out the government for excluding opposition assemblymen from district-level meetings and denying their constituencies development allocations, saying the practice contradicts the Head of State’s unity policy.
“Opposition-elected representatives are often being barred from important local meetings, such as the Land Use Committee and District Action Council meetings,” he said when debating the Head of State Policy Speech, Monday.
“These meetings are forums where decisions on land applications and district development related to our respective constituencies are made.
“The call by the Head of State for unity will be rhetoric if the State Government fails to fairly distribute allocations to constituencies represented by the opposition and if opposition assemblymen continue to be shut out of important district meetings,” Yusri said.
Yusri claimed he personally received a directive from the State Land and Survey Director, issued through the Sipitang District Office on Feb 10, barring him from grassroots-level meetings.
He also alleged that the district engineer at the Sipitang Public Works Department repeatedly postponed his working visits before eventually citing orders from superiors not to receive opposition representatives.
“This is unjust and disrespects the democratic mandate given to elected representatives by the people,” he said and called on the State Legislative Assembly to clarify whether the exclusion was official government policy or a cabinet decision.
He also spoke about the long-delayed Pan Borneo Highway, saying, “Incomplete construction had forced Sindumin villagers onto lengthy detours, with a journey that should take under a minute now taking close to five minutes.”
He said a request by community leaders to the Sipitang District Engineer dated Dec 15, 2025, seeking to keep the old road open, had gone unanswered.
Additionally, Yusri, a legal practitioner with over 20 years of experience, said he had been assisting villagers in filing pro bono claims against the Public Works Department over contractor negligence on Pan Borneo sites, winning more than three to four cases, and invited those who cannot afford legal fees to come forward.
He also sought a status update on 15,978 hectares of degazetted Class Two forest reserve in Sipitang approved for village settlement, urging the process be carried out transparently with community leaders and elected representatives involved at every stage.
He pressed the government to account for a RM130 million assistance fund established for former Sabah Forest Industries workers and their families, asking whether all affected individuals had received their full entitlements.
