Issues over Najib, wife nothing to do with S’wak — Abg Johari

KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has drawn a clear line between Sarawak and issues surrounding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Abang Johari, who is Barisan Nasional ( BN) Sarawak chairman, asserted that what had happened in Peninsular Malaysia would have nothing to do with the state.

I think (in) Sarawak, we don’t have the problem because we are on our own. That is why peninsulabased (political) parties do not come here. Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Chief Minister

Despite so, he said Sarawakians ought to remember what Najib had done for their state compared with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who did not fulfil the state’s requests during his tenure from 1981 to 2003.

“I think (in) Sarawak, we don’t have the problem because we are on our own. That is why peninsula-based ( political) parties do not come here.

“That one (any issue concerning Najib and Rosmah) is their problem that side, not ours. We must remember that Najib helps us. Without Najib, there will be no Pan Borneo Highway.

“Last time when Dr Mahathir was the prime minister, we asked for it but nothing ( happened) but Najib implemented it,” he said during a media interview at the old State Legislative Assembly complex here on Saturday night.

Abang Johari recalled a time when there were a lot of banks operating in the state but they had to close down due to the then government policy.

He said the government then decided to merge some of those banks “because we did not have enough capital after the financial crisis”, naming Hock Hua Bank and Bank Utama as among the banking institutions that faced closure at that time.

“In the end, we do not have many banks now. I cannot forgive this.

“So when I became the Chief Minister, I set up our own bank – DBoS ( Development Bank of Sarawak),” he said.

He believed that the operation of DBoS will to a certain extent trigger economic growth in Sarawak.

Responding to a question on the Petroleum Development Act ( PDA) 1974, Abang Johari said: “Whatever is past is past. We should look forward instead of looking at history.”

He insisted that the federal government under the BN leadership “will give us financial assistance” despite the Act that was passed over 40 years ago.

According to him, Sarawak did not give its rights to the federal government.

“Based on our record, the then chief minister said they must comply with the law.

“Tun (Abdul) Rahman (Ya’kub) was the chief minister then. We had our condition too but they did not comply (with it).

“All the money went to KL ( Kuala Lumpur) which is not right, we thought the money would come back, ada lah sik banyak (it did come back but not much),” he explained.

Nevertheless, he said the state government would continue to enhance road accessibility in rural areas while pursuing its light rail transit ( LRT) plan for urban areas.

He reminded Sarawakians that it would take time to improve the existing infrastructure, saying nothing could be achieved overnight.

“We do LRT for urban and for the rural areas, we will build proper roads. We do both and we cannot rely on the federal (government).

“It will take time – three years or maybe beyond three years,” he said, adding that the construction of the LRT might take eight years to complete.