KUCHING, Sept 13: Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) believes recent promises made by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), such as shelving the light rail transit (LRT) project to prioritise rural development, was just for the sake of winning the next state election, which is due in 2021.
Its pro tem president, Dato Othman Abdillah, said the calls to focus on rural development were only trumpeted whenever an election is coming and then routinely disappeared.
He said this goes to show that the present state leadership was weak as it had over 50 years to do so since the formation of Malaysia but failed to achieve anything till now.
“Sedar wishes all Sarawakians an awakening 55th Malaysia Day anniversary come this Sept 16. On that day, we will be reflecting even more about our diminished rights supposedly guaranteed under Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and lost of ownership over our prized oil and gas resources and territorial seas.
“It has been a long 55 years since we Sarawakians welcomed our neighbours from across the sea as one of our own and willingly looked up to them as our national leaders on the promise of equal progress. Tragically though, Sarawak regressed in comparative terms between what it has and is allowed to be achieved by both the federal and Sarawak governments,” said Othman in a statement today.
Othman opined that the sudden postponement of the “costly” LRT project was akin to an “admission of the capability deficit on the part of the current Sarawak leadership in planning a sustainable, equitable and rational development direction in the first place.
He added that this so-called postponement revealed that those who had been elected to serve the full interest of the rakyat had gone about satisfying their personal egos instead.
“What have now become of projects such as Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS), Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros), the proposed methanol plant, hydrogen plant and so on?” Othman asked.
He claimed that the setting up of Sedar came about following the “deafening calls” for a new party that is not burdened by self-serving political structures and which genuinely works for the wellbeing of the state and its people. — DayakDaily
