Yong explains the red carpet for Nur Misuari

Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) President Yong Teck Lee has come under renewed fire from the state Barisan Nasional.

This time he's in "trouble", albeit delayed, for laying out the red carpet for MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) leader Nur Misuari during his visit to Sabah when he (Yong) was chief minister from May 1996 to May 1998.

"Everybody welcomed Nur Misuari at that time," said (left) Yong in his defence.

"These same people have gone on to become federal ministers, chief ministers, Speaker of Parliament and hold other posts."

Yong stressed that besides himself, Nur Misuari's assumption of the Governorship of Mindanao in Cotabato in Sept 1996, was witnessed by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad,then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and many foreign ambassadors and leaders.

This followed the 1996 peace treaty between the MNLF and Manila.

The former Sabah chief minister urged BN leaders not to behave like the proverbial katak dibawah tempurung (frog under the coconut shell) in regard to Nur Misuari and the Philippines.

He singled out PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) vice president Herbert Timbon Lagadan,who has been spear-heading the attacks against him on Nur Misuari. Lagadan had also described Sapp's illegal immigrants's policy as "a big joke".

"Nur Misuari visited Sabah in Oct 1997 as the head of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development which oversaw the development of 14 provinces," recalled Yong in dispelling the notion that his government welcomed a known militant. "The focus of the visit was agricultural and fishery development."

Barter trade boom

Yong claimed that Nur Misuari in fact wanted the Filipinos in Sabah to return to Mindanao and help him run and re-build the region.

This plea later resulted in the formation of Bimp-Eaga, the East Asean growth triangle which held the promise of prosperity, he added.

He added that his government saw the prosperity of Sandakan and other eastern seaboard towns in Sabah linked with peace in Mindanao.

As consumer goods flooded into the southern Philippines from eastern Sabah, the state government increased the number of barter trade licences in Sandakan.

The government, added Yong, also studied the opening of barter trade centres in Lahad Datu, Kudat and Semporna besides improving an existing centre in Tawau.

He conceded that he visited Cotabato as chief minister on business but with the consent of the Federal Government, elsewhere Anwar was among those who led a business delegation to the southern Philippines and ex-Philippines president Fidel Ramos reciprocated with a visit to Sabah.

Prosperity: Solution to illegals issue

"All these were ground-breaking efforts considering that Manila is yet to drop its claim to Sabah (eastern and northern)," said Yong.

Springing to Nur Misuari's defence elsewhere, he said the Filipino leader could not be faulted for the illegal immigration into Sabah from the Philippines.

He blamed the phenomenon on civil wars, social conflict and economic deprivation.

"The cause of massive immigration into Sabah was initially the civil war in Mindanao in the 1970s. This was followed by economic migrants from the southern Philippines and the eastern provinces of Indonesia in the 1980s," said Yong, defending his record in public office.

He added that during his term as chief minister, there was extensive consultations between Manila, the MNLF, the Federal Government and his administration on seeking a "sustainable solution to the illegal immigrant problem affecting Sabah".

The Sapp Chief disclosed that Nur Misuari's belief was that peace and prosperity in Mindanao would stem the flow of illegal immigrants to Sabah.

As a bonus point, many illegals could also be expected to return voluntarily to their homeland in the Philippines.

This, in Yong's view, would be better than costly and insufficient enforcement measures taken by Sabah.

Looking back, he said that one of the key points of the dispute between Manila and the MNLF was "ancestral land' seized by newcomers after the refugees and illegal migrants flooded into Sabah.

"The solution lies in Felda-style land resettlement, land re-distribution, Ko-Nelayan style assistance to the fishermen, educational opportunities, medical facilities and a host of economic activities," said Yong.

The Sapp, Yong in particular, is coming under attack from the BN on various issues since announcing that his party is ready for the next General Election.

Yong himself has announced that his party has so far identified 30 state seats in terms of the issues, machinery, leaders on the ground and the strategies that it will apply.

The party plans to contest 40 state seats, leaving the remaining 20 for the other opposition parties.

Following this announcement, Sabah deputy speaker Johnny Mositun launched "an unprovoked out-of the-blue attack", in Yong's words, on the latter being mainly responsible for the poor performance of the state-sponsored Saham Amanah Sabah (SAS) unit trust scheme.

Sapp Youth Chief Edward Dagul has since lodged a police report against Mositun on the issue.

The report accuses him of concealing evidence of criminal wrong-doing concerning the SAS.