KUCHING, Dec 22: Santubong MP Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has told the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government not to turn Malaysia into a “Banana Republic”.
He said the federal government should continue with the projects approved by its predecessor, which was under the Barisan Nasional (BN).
“PH government should not make Malaysia into a Banana Republic, where the promises of the former government were not honoured.
“It has already lied in its manifesto, and now it even denies the people of the development projects where allocations were approved,” said Wan Junaidi in a press statement today.
He was responding to the recent announcement by Works Minister Baru Bian who said that the building of three bridges over Batang Lupar, Batang Rambungan and Batang Igan had been shelved.
Due to the size of the Batang Lupar Bridge, which spans five kilometre across the river, the then BN federal government and the Sarawak government agreed to share the building cost of RM1 billion equally.
As for the RM300 million Batang Igan Bridge and RM130 million Batang Rambungan Bridge, Sarawak would finance and build them first before billing Putrajaya.
Wan Junaidi said as a contingency plan to meet the needs of the people, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had informed him that the Sarawak government would take over the building of the three bridges.
“The chief minister has informed me that the Sarawak government will take over the building of the three bridges so that the connectivity along the coast will not be broken.
“In fact, coastal road connectivity is one of the big infrastructure projects in Sarawak that is crucial to give dynamic growth to coastal development.”
Wan Junaidi said as a responsible government, the PH government should continue with the projects that were approved by the previous BN government.
“As a minister, Baru Bian has failed in his duty as a minister from Sarawak for the shelving of the building of these three bridges, which are essential to proper rural development in Sarawak.
“He should identify them as priority projects in Sarawak and fight for Sarawak as we are still very far behind in terms of infrastructure development.” — DayakDaily
