By JOHN TAMBANAN
TAWAU: Sabah Youth, Sports Development and Creative Economy Minister, Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan, proposed the addition of two new parliamentary constituencies in Tawau following the significant increase in the number of voters in the area.
He said, the number of voters, which now exceeds 80,000, showed an urgent need to reassess the existing constituency division structure to ensure the effectiveness of service delivery to the people.
According to him, the increase not only increased the workload of elected representatives in terms of area coverage, but also affected the ability to interact more closely with voters at the grassroots level.
“The proposal to create two new parliamentary constituencies in Tawau is among the measures that should be considered to ensure that each area receives more balanced and comprehensive attention,” he said.
He said this when met by the media in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri Open House Ceremony at the Tawau Community Hall, here, yesterday.
Nizam, who is also the Apas State Assemblyman said that ideally a parliamentary constituency should involve around 40,000 to 50,000 voters to strengthen the relationship between elected representatives and the community.
He also stressed that any restructuring must take into account demographic factors, population density and local development needs to be in line with the aspirations of the people’s well-being.
At the same time, he said, the proposal must go through official channels including scrutiny by the Election Commission (EC) and approval at the Federal level.
More than 6,000 people from various races attended to enliven the Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house ceremony which took place from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm.
Nizam warmly welcoming some of the guests present at his Raya open house.
