Mahathir Ridicules Sabah And Sawarak Leaders As 'Greedy', Here Are Their Ministers Replies
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- Published on Thursday, 05 April 2018 16:53
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently made a statement during a public forum, ridiculing the economic state of Sabah and Sarawak, describing the natives as lazy and offending the states’ leaders by accusing them of greediness in administering the state.
During the Cabaran Ekonomi Anak Muda (Economic Challenges Of The Youth) public forum, he accused the leaders of both states of being selfish and complacent, and blamed them for the lack of infrastructure development there.
“They want to find the easy way out. If trees are being cut continuously, the forests will be gone. This is not the way for Sabah and Sarawak, they have a lot of resource and huge potential for development,” said Dr. Mahathir, as reported by FMT.
Understandably, many leaders of the two states were upset over Mahathir’s statement.
President of the Pasokmomogun Kadazandusin Murut (UPKO) society, Wildred Madius Tangau said the people of Sabah and Sarawak were just as hardworking as their compatroiots in the peninsular.
“Mahathir, you are very wrong. Sabahans and Sarawakians are survivors. It is our culture to do our best for ourselves and our families,” he said, adding that the people in Sabah and Sarawak worked just as hard as Mahathir’s ‘billionaire sons.’
“Our ethos, mentality and integrity for the state is unquestionable, especially by Mahathir who abused our resources to build ‘glamour projects’ in the peninsular,” he said, according to FMT.
Tangau claimed that Sabah and Sarawak were lagging far behind in terms of infrastructure development throughout the 22-year leadership of Dr Mahathir, while at the same time the peninsular was showered with prestigious projects such the KLCC Twin Towers, Putrajaya and Sepang Circuit.
“Adding insult to injury, Mahathir also continues to justify the need for his Project IC. He never has and never will apologise for this chapter that caused so many socio-economic problems for Sabah.
“No one in Sabah and Sarawak should place their trust in Mahathir or those who continue to associate with him. Doing so means that you agree with Mahathir calling us lazy and having a poor mentality compared to the people in Malaya.”
Another Sabahan leader, Johnny Mositun who holds the secretary-general post for the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), shared Wildred’s opinions in rebuking the former Prime Minister.
“Over the 22 years of his leadership, the chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak were his men, except for the few years that PBS ruled as an opposition party.
“If they were ‘greedy’ as he claims, it was his prerogative and within his considerable executive and political powers to bring them to heel, but he never did.”
Under Mahathir’s administration, the state experienced extreme manipulation by the federal executive powers that only served to enrich federal leaders and Mahathir’s cronies.
Meanwhile, Sabah Minister of Community Development and Consumer Affairs Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid described Mahathir’s statements as a ‘political ploy.’
“The ministers in these states are being proactive in the development of local industries and infrastructure.
“Why did Mahathir claim that Sabah is undeveloped? The word ‘complacent’ will in fact incite Sabahans’ hatred towards him.
“Maybe he no longer has any idea what is happening within the Sabah state government. To me it is just another political gimmick to provoke Sabahans to reject Barisan Nasional (BN) in the state,” said Jainab, as reported by Astro Awani.
One Sarawakian minister, Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah accused Mahathir of treating the Borneo states as ‘stepchildren’ throughout his leadership, prioritising the peninsular instead of developing both regions equally.
According to FMT, he noted that requests for more public facilities in the two states were denied due to unacceptable reasons.
“Requests for a good highway linking the two states, more hospitals, better schools and airports, were shot down using the unrealistic reasoning that they weren’t economically viable due to the smaller population and size of both states,” said the state’s Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports minister.
Abdul Karim was disappointed over Mahathir’s derogatory statements and said he should have remembered the contributions of Sabahans and Sarawakians, who harnessed the resources required to build his glamour projects in the first place.
-- mD
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