By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Nov 14: Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Chong Chieng Jen chides the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government for its failure to provide cheap land for industrial development for domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sarawak.
As such, he said the small and medium industries in Sarawak could not grow, and many youngsters are forced to go elsewhere to seek jobs.
“While Sarawak has a vast land, many small entrepreneurs could not afford land for their factories,” said Chong, citing this as one of 10 issues he brought up to prove that ‘Sarawak First’ did not bring benefits to common Sarawakian.
The next issue he pointed out was that the GPS government had failed to make house prices affordable for common Sarawakians.
“Under the GPS State government, houses in Sarawak are most unaffordable to common Sarawakians, compared to other states in Malaysia.
“While Sarawak has a vast land, many common Sarawakians, especially youngsters, are unable to buy a house,” said Chong, who is DAP’s candidate and incumbent MP for Stampin, at a press conference today that was streamed live on DAP’s social media.
Inflation was one of the 10 issues he named, which he said both the GPS and the Federal governments failed to control.
“While the GPS ruling elites happily hold ministerial positions in both Federal and State Cabinets, they are clueless about managing the country’s economy. As a result, common Sarawakians suffer under the ever-increasing living costs,” Chong, who is also Padungan assemblyman, claimed.
He then accused GPS of colluding with Umno (United Malays National Organisation), Bersatu (Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), and PAS to form a Federal government that Chong claimed is known for its corruption, racism, and religious bigotry.
“While GPS claims that what happens in West Malaysia is none of its business, more than 300,000 common Sarawakians who are compelled to stay in West Malaysia because of jobs, education or other reasons, are constantly suffering under the yoke of such government,” said Chong.
Naming bank schemes as one of the 10 issues, he said, when bank scams happen, and common Sarawakians have their deposits stolen through internet banking, the GPS, both as the Sarawak government and part of the Federal government, did nothing to help the victims.
On the contrary, he said, the GPS government is pushing the people to pursue e-commerce and e-wallet. To Chong, while the banks are making huge profits, common Sarawakians have their savings in banks stolen without any recourse.
Another issue he raised was related to Sarawak Petroleum Berhad (Petros).
He said after having regained the LPG distribution rights and setting up of a government-linked company, the GPS government continues to sell LPG, petrol, and diesel at the same price to common Sarawakians, which did not bring any benefits to the people of Sarawak.
These were among the 10 matters Chong raised to prove that GPS’ ‘Sarawak First’ slogan is “mere tools of the GPS ruling elites to control common Sarawakians”.
“While the autonomy and devolution of power may sound good, without good governance and accountability, such autonomy and devolution of power merely benefit the few ruling elites and their close friends, while the majority common Sarawakians continue to suffer,” said Chong.
With him at the press conference was Dr Kelvin Yii, DAP’s candidate for Bandar Kuching. — DayakDaily
