PITAS: Bersekutu Acting President Datuk Harris Mohamad Salleh said  it  was  most unfortunate that  the  various  schemes  and development programmes introduced by his previous Berjaya Government were abandoned or sold off by the PBS Government.  

     "If these programmes were continued, the people in the areas concerned will have been much better off today," he said.  

     Harris said if voted to power in the coming State elections, Bersekutu would formulate regional development plans to meet specific economic needs of the various areas to help the people and improve their living conditions.  

     Addressing party members and supporters at Kampung Kanibongan near here Sunday, Harris said it was necessary to create a permanent source of income for the people in order they could enjoy the same living standards of their counterparts in more advanced states in Peninsular Malaysia.  

     He   pointed  out  that  the  people  require  a   steady permanent  vocation  and the source of  income  to  upgrade their living standards. 

     Uncertain work patterns fail to provide necessary skills and specialised knowledge needed for economic advancement and progress.  

     He assured that a Bersekutu Government would map out strategies and  prepare plans for regional development of  each  district in Sabah, considering that the needs of each area are different.  

     For the Bengkoka region, the in-situ development of teakwood and oil palm smallholdings would provide the thrust to government efforts to improve the people's economic status, he said.  

     He was optimistic that the people had acquired sufficient experience and knowledge working in the Safoda and SLDB plantations to start developing their own land.  

     Harris believed that oil palm inter-cropped with teakwood could be successfully grown to development private smallholdings for the people.  

     A Bersekutu Government would develop the smallholdings on the people's own land and maintain them for at least three years before returning it to them, he said.  

     Under the scheme, the landowners would work on their own smallholdings under expert supervision and earn wages to sustain their families and themselves.  

     According to him, the in-situ development for the Bengkoka region would be similar to what had been planned for other areas to assist landowners who have been struggling to make a decent living.  

     The cost of development would be a loan which the farmers would be able to repay from the sales of high-value crops, he said.  

     In addition, the reafforestation of the development of oil palm estates would be intensified in order to create job opportunities and provided much needed financial security to the people in the region, he added.