KUCHING, Jan 18: Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) should revisit the past record of their own top leadership to see if the new federal government would act in the best interest of the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said PH chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not possess a glowing reference when it comes to matters pertaining to Sarawak during his first prime minister tenureship from 1981 to 2003.
He pointed out that Dr Mahathir, who is also chairman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, a Pakatan Harapan component party, did nothing to right the blatant injustice of oil-producing states, including Sarawak, earning only five per cent from their oil and gas revenue.
Masing reminded that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was also part of the federal cabinet and eventually becoming deputy prime minister during Dr Mahathir’s 29-year reign as the fourth prime minister under the then Barisan Nasional government (BN).
“Out of 55 years BN government, 29 years, of which Dr Mahathir was prime minister and Anwar was a minister and deputy minister, what did they do for Sarawak apart from ‘robbing’ us of our oil and gas resources?
“Please read our history in the last 55 years,” the Parti Rakyat Sarawak president said in a statement today.
He was responding to Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian, who advised Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) lawmakers not to be too fast in making conclusions or rather presumptuous in alleging that elected representatives in the new federal government have not acted in the best interest of Sarawak when it comes to matters affecting the state.
Baru, in his debate speech on the Sarawak Budget 2019 at the State Legislative Assembly sitting last November, said only time would tell whether Pakatan would fare better than their predecessors.
The Works Minister found it disheartening to know that after 55 years, the leaders in Sarawak government had finally realised and acknowledged the real situation in the state.
“It is not too late to admit that we are left far behind. However, the irony of this situation is that the GPS politicians conveniently overlook the fact that this is the legacy created by their own former best friends — Umno/BN, of which GPS had been a part of for 55 years,” Baru said.
He reminded that schools in Sarawak did not become dilapidated overnight nor did the roads linking the town with rural villages across the state suddenly become inadequate since Pakatan won the elections. They had been neglected over the past 55 years. — DayakDaily
