Ghapur Resigns As Deputy Minister - Bernama

TAWAU, March 27 (Bernama) -- Kalabakan Member of Parliament Datuk Ghapur Salleh relinquished his post as Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister effective Wednesday.

He told Bernama on Thursday that he submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Putrajaya last night.

Dismissing talk that he would hop over to the opposition, which is said to be trying to lure several MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, Ghapur, who won the seat unopposed in the March 8 general election, said he would continue to be an elected representative and Kalabakan Umno division head.

He is the second MP from Sabah and the third person to resign as a federal deputy minister since the election.

MP Anifah Aman rejected his appointment as Deputy Transport Minister while Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Abu Bakar, the MP for Jerantut, turned down the post of Deputy Foreign Minister.

Asked why he decided to quit eight days after accepting the post, Ghapur, 64, he said: "I don't want to be tied down with the duties of a deputy minister because I want to concentrate fully on the residents of Kalabakan.

He said he had many childrean studying overseas and being a deputy minister would curtail his time to visit his children.

[From http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=322961]