MATUNGGONG:Barely five months after taking over the state administration the Warisan-led state government has nothing to show for all its rhetoric and populist slogan pre-GE14 about “Ubah” (change) and providing Sabahans with a transparent, efficient and people-oriented government.
“This is the reality beginning to set in. The initial euphoria has worn off, and people are uneasy with the subtle manner in which key public appointments are being manipulated politicians. Ultimately these officials will legitimize dubious projects for their political masters and their cronies,” PBS Secretary General, Datuk Johnny Mositun said after officiating the party’s Matunggong Division AGM.
Mositun said he was apprehensive about “brokers” converging on Sabah with proposals for projects that were actually only “fronts” for grabbing valuable land and state assets which would later change hands or be converted to other uses for people with connections.
Mositun said the TAED project by the state government was criticized and politicized by Warisan, and is currently in limbo.
“The state government will not give a firm commitment that it is scrapped as promised. Why is that? The reason is clear. Like the Kaiduan Dam case, this government will find some excuse to revive it by giving it some other name or tinkering with the plans and scope. In the end it’s the leaders and their cronies who’ll make money out of these very projects or lands after lying to the people they would be scrapped,” Mositun said.
Mositun said he was also apprehensive about the Tan Chong Motors proposed assembly plant at KKIP announced by the Chief Minister.
“The company had in fact made a similar proposal during my time as a Deputy Speaker, but there were conditions that held it up. Now suddenly the project is approved. I’d like to know how much land Tan Chong is applying for to build its plant, even if it is paying for it, and how much is actually needed. Something is not right,” he said.
Mositun said many investors had been turned off from KKIP as there were problems with reliable power supply , cost of production, logistics and high shipping costs.
“Suddenly, Tan Chong goes ahead with an assembly plant here at KKIP. Why the change of heart?” Mositun said.
On other matters Mositun said everywhere he went people were expressing anger and resentment over the issue of foreigners flooding the state, especially PTI.
“PBS feels the same way. We only get wishy-washy assurances and excuses each time the rakyat question the government. Strangely we find outbreaks of fire at certain settlements with many squatters, resulting in demands for priority and easing of conditions for replacement MyKad on humanitarian grounds. And more perplexing, a Deputy Minister even scolding and threatening the rakyat for complaing,” Mositun said.
Mositun said the way things were going in Sabah it was possible that the present Warisan-led government might resort to a mid-term state election to shore up its waning support while it was still in power.
“Whatever it is, PBS will be ready for any eventuality,” he said. -By LSK/BNN
