KUCHING: Dato Sri Michael Manyin has announced he is ready to defend the Tebedu seat which he has held for 20 years since 1996.
He said this to confirm the statement of Chief Minister and State Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem that he (Manyin) would be retained to contest the seat in the next state election.
“The chief minister already said I will be standing (for the next election). There’s no secret about it anymore.
“So this means I will be contesting for another term. When the State Legislative Assembly is dissolved to make way for the election, I will be the candidate for N21 Tebedu,” he said at an appreciation dinner on Wednesday for members of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Tebedu branch involved in organising the recently held Tebedu Youth Assembly.
Adenan, at the Dayak Bidayuh National Association 60th anniversary dinner on October 11, announced Manyin as among three Bidayuh incumbents from PBB to be retained for the next election because ‘there were no reasons not to retain them’.
Manyin, 70, also expressed his gratitude and thanks for the support he has received from the constituents since first elected as Tebedu assemblyman 20 years ago.
With their support and cooperation, he said the constituency now enjoyed good road network, with all villages now enjoying electricity and treated water supplies. He even said that ‘21’ was a good number as it symbolised the winning number in the game of Blackjack.
He added that a lot had changed since the first few years as the elected representative of Tebedu, when many village roads were yet to be tar-sealed and he even had to travel to the villages using helicopter at that time.
The Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communications also announced that a treated water supply project costing RM140 million for the Mongkos-Mentung Merau area in the neighbouring Kedup constituency had already been approved by the government.
“The project will be implemented this year, and hopefully all villages in Serian will enjoy treated water supply soon.
“The credit doesn’t go to Michael Manyin but to you the people because you supported the government and elected me as the elected representative from the Barisan Nasional,” he said.
He said politicians would never say people were indebted to them. It’s the politicians who were always indebted to the people and not the other way around.
He clarified that an online news portal in a recent report headlined ‘Bidayuhs are indebted to Adenan’ was a spin of his speech that gave a wrong impression of the community.
“My speech at a recent function was spun. I never said it like that. Instead, I appealed to the people that we gave Datuk Patinggi Adenan a big mandate so that he could speak with a louder voice for us Sarawakians.
He also told the audience that if elected for another five years, he would do more for the community not just for the Bidayuhs and Serian, but in ways to elevate the state and country.
“I am getting older. I am not working for myself but I will be working for the community. All my efforts in the next five years will be for the community, not just in Serian but for the whole Bidayuh community and whole of Sarawak and Malaysia.
“Let’s work together for the community in whatever way we can contribute,” he said.
On another matter, Manyin, who has been a leading figure in getting Serian made the state’s newest administrative division, announced that the state complex in Serian would be launched probably in early March.
He said the project, estimated to cost at least RM70 million, would be among the new exciting developments taking place in Serian.
Other exciting development was the Serian town extension on a 160-acre site which had already been approved by State Planning Authority (SPA), he added.
Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2016/01/29/manyin-says-ready-to-go-for-another-term/#ixzz3yh57Yawj
