MUKAH, Aug 22 — Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is expected to field several new faces in the 12th State Election, said its chairman Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg.
This followed the decision by several of its representatives not to seek reelection and wanting to make way to young leaders in the party.
One of them was Kalaka assemblyman Datuk Abdul Wahab Aziz from the Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
“Wahab Aziz had said that enough is enough for him and that he wanted to pave the way for a new leader to contest the constituency,” said the Sarawak Chief Minister who is also the president of PBB.
Abang Johari said this during the groundbreaking ceremony of the 1.7km long Batang Paloh Bridge project in Pulau Bruit here today.
Abang Johari said that it was normal for veteran leaders to be replaced by younger ones but in GPS new leaders have to be trained for years before they could take up the responsibility.
“It is not easy to administer a state with racial and religious diversity like Sarawak. One must have wide experience in order to do it,” he said, adding that he and the other veteran leaders of state were groomed by past leaders.
He also cautioned the young leaders in GPS not to rush climbing the ladder of leadership.
“The young leaders are sometime emotional. They are like a speedboat, if driven too fast it would hit logs and capsize,” he said.
On the RM298 million bridge project connecting Pulau Bruit and Tanjung Manis, Abang Johari said that it will not only change the livelihood of the people in socio-economic terms but also solve the island’s treated water supply problem as a 500mm pipe could be installed on the bridge to supply treated water to Pulau Bruit.
The project commenced on May 8 last year and is expected to be completed in 48 months, with the progress of the physical work at 4.13 per cent as at the end of July. — Bernama
