Najib dismisses opposition allegations of Malaysia being a failed state

SANDAKAN: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday described as nonsense the allegations by the opposition that Malaysia is a failed state.

The Prime Minister said that if Malaysia was a failed state, it would have caught the attention of world leaders including King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who chose Malaysia as the first destination of his state visits to several Asian countries.

“If Malaysia is a failed state, do you think His Majesty King Salman would have come to Malaysia? In a large aircraft? With a huge entourage and sign an agreement with Petronas to invest RM31 billion in the Rapid ( Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development) project?.

“Ladies and gentlemen, do you think His Majesty wants to waste time with Malaysia, with the Government of Malaysia?

“How can Malaysia be a failed state if it is a country of His Majesty’s choice to visit?” he said when speaking at the launch of the Taman Batu Sapi People’s Housing Project here.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and deputy chief ministers Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Datuk Seri Raymond Tan Shu Kiah as well as Federal Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar were also present at the event.

Najib said that if Malaysia was a failed state, how was it that Saudi Aramco, which produces 14 million barrels of oil per day, wanted to seal an agreement with Petronas as a joint partner of the RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor.

He said if Malaysia was a failed state, how could Bloomberg recently announce that Malaysia rose to 23rd ranking from 25th in the Global Innovation Index.

In fact, he said, if Malaysia was a failed state, how was it possible for the Barisan Nasionalled government of Malaysia to implement basic projects for the people’s benefit, such as the housing project in Batu Sapi and many mega projects in Sabah.

Najib said that besides the housing project in Batu Sapi, many additional projects were being implemented and would be carried out throughout Sabah for the welfare of the state, including the Pan Borneo Highway.

He said the government under his leadership paid attention to development in Sabah to ensure the state’s development was on par with that experienced by other states in the peninsula. — Bernama