Joniston not addressing issue raised by Warisan
KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Warisan Wirawati chief, JoAnna Henley Rampas has accused Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai of not addressing the issue raised by Warisan concerning the giving of land to the Federal government.
In a statement yesterday, JoAnna claimed that Joniston is trying to hide the action of giving the land to the Federal government by accusing former Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal of giving an island for illegal immigrants as their resettlement area.
She said that Joniston seemed to be shifting the issue raised by Warisan which questioned why the GRS government needed to give new land to the Federal government when so many land that have already been given to the latter are still unused fully.
“It is as if Joniston is shifting the issue of land giving by GRS to the Federal government but I would like to ask him where is the island Warisan has given to the illegal immigrants?
“As a representative of the people who is in the government, he has access to the minutes of meetings and letters of instructions, if there is, which has been issued by the Warisan government in the past to study the matter further instead of merely picking up issues in the media to sensationalise. This includes the controversy of fires breaking out at squatter settlements throughout Sabah which is often raised by Joniston,” said Jo-Anna.
She said that although infrastructure development from the central government is welcomed, she queried if Joniston knew how much ‘land bank’ is given to the Federal government such as the Education Ministry, for example, which continues to be undeveloped until today?
This also includes the new development plan site for SMK Pekan Nabalu in Kiulu which has long been interrupted, she said.
“Because of that, I urge Joniston to do his own research on the issues,” she said.
Commenting on the giving of land to the Federal government, Jo-Anna urged that Joniston conduct a more thorough research or study on the state lands given to the Federal government prior to this and how many of those land has been developed fully.