Grand reception expected for PM Najib
KENINGAU: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is in for a grand reception by the people from the interior here. Preparations are in full swing in all the locations the premier is scheduled to visit within the district here, the Sook sub-district and Tambunan, over the weekend.
Hotels are booked to the brim, and so were alternative lodgings such as homestays and lodging houses. Rozeneh Junis, 41, from Kampung Lintuhun in Tambunan expects the town about 40km from here to be packed with people from the district as well as visitors.
“We are quite excited because this is the first time I think the prime minister is visiting our area,” said the food stall operator at the Central Market foodcourt . In Bingkor near here at the Rumah Besar, a house that belonged to the late Sedomon Gunsanad, a native leader who hosted Najib’s father Tun Abul Razak Hussein some 50 years ago during the formative years of Malaysia, it was a hive of activity.
Sedomon’s children led by Ricky, 58, as the organising committee chairman for the visit, were busy putting on the final touches for the nostaligic visit by Najib retracing his father’s footsteps.
“Many of our family members are now back here and we expect them to attend the gathering,” he said as he organised the placing of directional signboards and decorations ahead of the visit. One of the main attractions at the house would be a board with the names of over 4,000 people, including Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and his brother, Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman.
It is the family tree chart that traces up to six generations of the Dusun family.
Najib will arrive here tomorrow to launch the Sabah Handicraft Centre followed with a visit to the Keningau Integrated Livestock Centre in Sook. By evening he will be attending the National Pesta Kaamatan at the Sports Complex.
On Sunday, the premier will be going for a walkabout in the town here and Bingkor before visiting the Rumah Besar. From there he will move on to Tambunan where he will be doing the ground breaking ceremony for the Kadazandusun and Murut College before heading to Kota Kinabalu. There he will be attending a gathering with educators before returning to Kuala Lumpur.
