KUCHING, March 19: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang today chided Abdul Aziz Isa for criticising his office recently for not issuing an Occupational Permit (OP) for a school block in SK Jalan Haji Baki.
Lo told the special assistant to state Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Chong Chieng Jen
that the previous federal government had approved RM20 million to build a new school for SK Jalan Haji Baki.
He said the school block that Abdul Aziz mentioned cost only RM2.93 million. It was built using the Industrialised Building System (IBS), and its purpose was to serve as a temporary shelter for the pupils when the old school is demolished to make way for a new one.
“Aziz is very ignorant because he does not know the purpose of the IBS school block. He is saying that the previous government cheated folks by building an IBS school block instead of a proper building.
“The temporary IBS block has to be built so that the pupils can have a place to study in when they demolish the present old, dilapidated timber school block. They have to build the new school block over the land where the old school block now stands; so where do the students go if there is no temporary IBS school block?” Lo asked.
In a statement, Lo further pointed out that the IBS initiative was implemented by the Education Ministry but the contractor failed to do a proper job; hence, the supervising architect and engineer did not want to apply for an OP.
“It is malicious of Aziz to blame me and MPP for not issuing the OP when the consulting architect and engineer were not willing to submit an application for OP, as it will be against their conscience and credibility to do so.”
Lo, who is also Batu Kitang assemblyman, also wondered why the Education Ministry engaged a West Malaysian contractor for the simple job when there are many capable contractors in the state.
“In fact, while waiting for the IBS school block to be completed, I had to allocate RM50,000 from my RTP funds for rewiring of the classrooms in the 50-year-old dilapidated school building as sparks could be seen on wires during rainy days. The imminent danger to our pupils and teachers is obvious; hence, the immediate allocation of RM50,000 was a no-brainer for me.”
“So, what is the purpose of Aziz’s donation of RM5,000 on Chong’s behalf? Is it just so that Aziz can take a picture to gain cheap publicity when your West Malaysian PH (Pakatan Harapan) leaders have axed many approved projects in Haji Baki?”
Lo said many Kampung Haji Baki folk felt cheated by the PH government.
“Where is the good reason for the PH government to cut their Haji Baki hawker centre allocation of RM800,000 and the proposed ‘dewan’ for Haji Baki costing RM1,000,000?
“Please do not forget that RM250 million worth of petroleum every single day is being pumped up from Sarawak and siphoned over to Malaya. Where are the fairness and the integrity in all this?”
Lo wondered why Abdul Aziz and Chong were keeping mum over the unfair treatment of Kampung Haji Baki in particular and Sarawak in general by Putrajaya.
“Where are the promises made by (Finance Minister) Lim Guan Eng, (Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs) Chong Chieng Jen and (Pending assemblywoman) Violet Yong? They were shouting so brashly from the rooftops before GE14, and I quote: ‘If we form the next government, we shall within 100 days give back to Sarawak autonomy on health and education and give back 20 per cent oil royalty to Sarawak” unquote.’” — DayakDaily
