Kapayan: Kapayan incumbent Datuk Jannie Lasimbang has appealed to voters for a second term in the 17th Sabah State Election, emphasising that long-standing issues such as recurring floods and dengue hotspots in her constituency require time to resolve due to the complexity of the solutions involved.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate from DAP explained that these solutions demand extensive government coordination and substantial funding, which cannot be achieved overnight. She pointed out that even small-scale local flood-mitigation projects, such as those needed in Luyang and estimated to cost around half a million ringgit, illustrate the complexity and high expense involved.

This challenge is compounded when the constituency experiences unusually heavy rainfall, resulting in more frequent and severe flooding. Infrastructure planning is also struggling to keep up with Kapayan’s rapid population growth, which has seen the electorate jump from 32,000 voters in 2020 to 50,000 today. “That’s why they say political stability is so important,” she stressed, noting that groundwork on complex policies, including environmental laws for waste segregation, had begun under the previous administration but requires a long tenure to be fully implemented and enforced.

Jannie said this in response to concerns raised over the effectiveness of her manifesto amid the recurring issues in her constituency. She was speaking to reporters after launching her manifesto today, which was also attended by DAP Women’s Chief Teo Nie Ching.

The polling day for the 17th Sabah State Election, involving 73 state constituencies, is on Nov 29, while early voting is on Nov 25. According to the Election Commission (EC) statistics, a total of 1,784,843 voters are eligible to exercise their democratic right in this election. They consist of 1,760,417 ordinary voters, 11,697 military personnel and their spouses, and 12,729 police personnel and their spouses.