Chong told to name ‘crony projects’
KUCHING: Pakatan Harapan ( PH) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has been told to itemise the projects which he claimed to be ‘ hot air’ and/or ‘crony projects’.
It would be unfair to others if he merely generalised the projects to be stopped otherwise he is himself a kind of ‘hot-air’, a term he liked to use, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu ( PBB) information chief Dato Idris Buang.
“In the interest of the people of Sarawak, I urge Chong to be fair and professional in detailing out the reasons as to why a large number of rural projects in Sarawak were stopped by the Pakatan Harapan government.
“What he has done thus far was just making a political statement by making a generalisation. To me, he is actually being unfair to the stakeholders and beneficiaries of these projects because he ought to be mindful that these projects had been scrutinised at various levels through a proper system by the relevant agencies before being approved or announced by the ministers or politicians from the previous government,” said Idris, who is also Muara Tuang assemblyman.
Idris then called Chong – the state Democratic Action Party ( DAP) chairman – to respect the system and the agencies that were responsible for all projects that had been duly approved.
“What he did was nothing but a political statement with a political
In the interest of the people of Sarawak, I urge Chong to be fair and professional in detailing out the reasons as to why a large number of rural projects in Sarawak were stopped by the Pakatan Harapan government. Dato Idris Buang, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) information chief
purpose,” said Idris.
During a press conference here on Sunday, Chong – the Stampin MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman – also mentioned that accusations hurled against the federal government for cancelling so- called ‘approved’ projects in Sarawak was a reflection that GPS lawmakers were worried of losing in the next state election.
He clarified that the projects were cancelled or terminated based on two definitive categories.
The first category, he said, are projects that are merely talked about or ‘hot air’ by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during his visit around the country prior to the last general election (GE14).
He said Najib had made the project promises but there were no budgetary allocations approved in Parliament for them yet.
The second category for the cancelled or terminated projects, according to the Ministry of Finance he said, are projects awarded to contractors without any open tender.
In other words, these are also known as crony projects that will only benefit the cronies at the expense of the people due to the highly inflated price, said Chong, who is also Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.