31/7/06 (Daily Express)  -  Kota Kinabalu: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) urged the relevant authorities to explain the status of the oil palm planted on 17,000 acres earmarked for the hardcore poor eradication programme (PPRT) in 2000 at Tongod, near Sandakan.

The project was launched by then Chief Minister Datuk Osu Sukam on Sept. 4, 2000.

PBS Supreme Council member Johnny Mositun said the matter was raised to him by the project applicants from seven villages led by Aming bin Asing of Kampung Kiliwatong, Tongod, when launching the joint annual meeting of seven Kuamut PBS division branches at the Tongod Community Centre, Saturday.

"The villagers had applied for 15 acres each to the Kinabatangan District Office in 1985. However there was no word until in 1999 when the Land and Surveys Department issued a notice stating that Borneo Samudera had been given 17,000 acres to be planted with oil palm for the PPRT," he said, Sunday.

Prior to the project launch in early 2000, the respective village development and security committee chairmen were told to submit the list of applicants for the PPRT project to the District Office.

"What left them puzzled was that the agency was already harvesting the oil palm but they are still in the dark about their applications submitted nearly six years ago," said Mositun.

"It is very sad to see the kampung folk given such high hopes when they were asked to sign for the project. But till now there's no word from the relevant authorities," he said.

He hoped the Government and the agency concerned would explain to the affected villagers.

Meanwhile, Mositun said the party was restructuring the PBS Kuamut division following the departure of its chief who contested as an independent in the 2004 State election.

In his speech, he commended the members and supporters in Kuamut for continuing to support the party and Barisan Nasional (BN).

310706He also urged them to continue to be supportive of the development plans carried out by the State and Federal governments, especially under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, which was for their benefit.

"As a member of the BN we would always be supportive of the government policies," he said.