By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Nov 11: Lo Khere Chiang has opened fire on Chong Chieng Jen for using the 3rd Mile Bazaar’s shophouse fire to cover up his failure and trying to mislead the people when the latter had failed to raise and address the fire hydrant issue over his three terms as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Bandar Kuching and one term for Stampin.
Lo, who is Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate for P196 Stampin in the 15th General Election (GE15), expressed disbelief that Chong, the Stampin incumbent, did not realise that the fire hydrant issue falls in the jurisdiction of the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) which is under the Federal government.
“What Chong should do is to address this fire hydrant issue in Parliament. What has he been doing in Parliament? Has he addressed any issues at all? No. All his years in Parliament, what has he done for Sarawak?
“Give empty promises and talk big (without any concrete actions). That’s all. Why don’t he check and test all the hydrants to ensure their functionality, instead of picking bones out of eggs,” he said at a press conference at his Batu Kitang service centre in Mile 6 here today.
Lo even challenged Chong to produce his report card and disclose how he had spent the RM4 million funding obtained from the Federal government after the signing of agreement between the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and Datuk Patinggi Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government.
“For me and through the MPP (Padawan Municipal Council) platform, I have done much in the past five years,” he said.
He was reacting to Chong, who had yesterday blamed him as well as the Ministry of Local Government for their failure in representing the interests of the community following the 3rd Mile Bazaar fire incident where Chong claimed fire fighting efforts could have been more effective if the firefighters were able to immediately locate the fire hydrants which were buried underground.
The two rivals who will face off against each other in Stampin in GE15 were in a brief heated argument over some issues when they met at the scene of the fire yesterday, which was capture on a Facebook livestream. Lo later apologised for losing his cool.
Lo, who is also MPP chairman, admitted that while it took firefighters some time to find the hydrants, there were many in the 3rd Mile Bazaar area but as it is an old and congested commercial area, these fireplugs were located underground.
“But the firefighters decided to use the one opposite the road and one behind the shop. The Bomba actually did their job professionally and we are thankful for their swift action as they were already there before me and Chong arrived. The Bomba had already deployed water from their vehicle,” he explained.
Hitting back at Chong for trying to cover up his own failure by blaming others, Lo told Chong not to keep fooling the people when Democratic Action Party (DAP) had not fulfilled its promises to Sarawak and her people, including the 20 per cent oil royalty, return of taxes as well as education and health matters over their 22-months of rule.
“He is just trying to outsmart the people by distorting the truth deliberately and to misrepresent the facts. We (Sarawakians) are not stupid.
“Don’t try to mislead the people of Stampin. It is high time to change the MP for Stampin. Give it to me and I will show you what a true Sarawakian should and is capable of doing in taking care of the rights and needs of Sarawak,” he claimed. — DayakDaily
