KUCHING, Aug 8: The continuous smear campaign by Pakatan Harapan against the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government could be driven by envy of its success in administering the state.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said Pakatan members have been throwing all sorts of accusations and allegations against the state government.
“Despite Pakatan’s best effort in trying to slam the state government in any way it could, the state government continues to persevere in administering its development agenda throughout the state and actually materialised many of its planning to date,” he said when opening the newly completed Long Lama Bridge in Ulu Baram, today.
He believed the jealousy among Pakatan members could derive from the state government’s achievement because Pakatan, despite controlling the federal government, could not contribute to Sarawak’s infrastructure development as promised prior to GE14.
Abang Johari claimed that when his predecessor, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem laid the foundation stone to build the Long Lama Bridge in 2015, many people had criticised the project.
“That is human nature to criticise each other, because they themselves could not build the bridge. Now they are jealous because they could not deliver, but we (GPS) delivers, as you are witnessing now,” he said.
The chief minister took swipe at Pakatan, saying that the coalition seems to have lost their sense of direction in developing the country and that the nation’s economy is not stable, while they were fighting over who should be the next prime minister.
He said the situation in Sarawak is the opposite, as GPS has set its direction for the state to become a developed state by 2030.
Abang Johari also rubbished claims that Sarawak would go bankrupt in three years.
“We know how to run our economy. We know how to accumulate revenue engineering. Trust me, we have more bridges and roads to build throughout the state costing up to RM11 billion on our own.”
He also chided Pakatan Cabinet members who played politics with Sarawak education by imposing conditions to fix dilapidated schools in the state.
“I paid RM350 million (state contra loan to Putrajaya) to fix our dilapidated schools. He (Finance Minister) told us to do so and now they must keep their promise,” Abang Johari said. — DayakDaily
