By Chok Sim Yee
Change yourself first, Musa tells Shafie
PUTATAN: “What is there to ‘ubah’ (change)?” asked Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman.
Musa said Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal never once came to his office to discuss about development needs of Sabah when the latter was the Rural and Regional Development Minister.
“We are in the dark as to how much allocation is provided for Sabah and the developments to be carried out,” he said.
Musa said Energy, Green Technology and Water MinisyerDatuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau, Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup and Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Rahman Dahlan had all approached him to discuss what they could do for Sabah.
The second day Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as the Rural and Regional Development Minister, Musa received a call from him to express his wish to visit Sabah and determine the development the State needed.
On the contrary, he said the Warisan president had been arrogant and had not cared about Sabah when he was in power.
“Now he goes in and out of villages and making promises after he has lost his position and funding, shouting ubah.
“Ubah, ubah. Ubah apa? (What is there to change?) Ubah sendiri dulu (Change yourself first).”
Musa said that during the groundbreaking ceremony for SMK Petagas here yesterday.
He said Deputy Chief Minister cum incumbent Petagas state assemblyman Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin had frequently brought up the subject of SMK Petagas as there was no road access to the site.
As such, Musa said he instructed the Lands and Surveys Department to check the lands leading to the site where the school would be built and pay compensation to owners whose lands have been acquired by the government.
“The cost of SMK Petagas is RM50 million,” he said.
Apart from the Pan Borneo Highway, Musa said the Prime Minister had also approved an allocation of RM1 billion each to Sabah and Sarawak to repair dilapidated schools in the 2018 budget.
He said the government had also increased the amount of 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M).
Musa said the BN elected representatives worked hard as they realized that they were given the mandate by the people.
“I always advise YBs not to be arrogant. YB does not mean Yang Berhormat, it means Yang Berkhidmat (to serve) the people. It is not a privilege.”
He said BN elected representatives would not ‘disappear’ after the election.
“We have our national and Sabah manifestos. That is our promise to the people.
“We will certainly realize the manifesto after the election.”
Meanwhile, Yahya, who is also the Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, said construction of the new SMK Petagas was important to the people in Petagas as the only secondary school here, SMK Tansau, was already overcrowded with the increase of housing in the area.
He thanked Musa for his strong support in making the school a reality and the Ministry of Education for approving the project.
On another note, Yahya believed that BN, under Musa’s leadership, would once again win big in Sabah.
He said the school was proof that BN did not make empty promises.
He said the Federal and State governments have allocated around RM2 billion to Putatan for the past five years to improve drainage, build low-cost housing projects, repair schools and community halls and carry out road widening projects.
Yahya urged the voters not to be misled by Warisan headed by Shafie.
He also called on the people to vote for BN on the polling day, May 9.
Also present were incumbent Putatan member of parliament Datuk Marcus Mojigoh and Tanjong Aru assemblyman Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah, who will be defending their seats in the coming election.