Musa only protects his own interests
 KOTA KINABALU,
9 April 2010: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has accused
Chief Minister Datuk Musa Hj Aman of only protecting his own position and
interests, instead of the State and its people's interests.
Its Information Chief Chong Pit Fah said this was rather obvious and
unbecoming when he refused to seek for a higher oil royalty from the
Federal Government who has the full control of Petronas.
"He (Musa) is only protecting his own position and interests, that is why
he said there is no need for the State to ask for higher oil royalty from
Kuala Lumpur," said Chong in a statement issued here today.
He was responding to a recent statement by the Chief Minister for saying
that the amount of allocations from the Federal Government pouring into
Sabah is more important than discussing about increasing oil royalty for
the State. He said whether or not the oil royalty is increased, when Sabah
asked for allocation from the Federal Government, the latter gives.
Chong however said it was rather puzzling, dubious and unacceptable that
Musa has outright refused to negotiate with the Federal Government for a
higher oil royalty, which would significantly boost the development of the
State and the standard of living of its people.
"Even though he is the Chief Minister of Sabah , he has no right to
deprive the State and its people of something that is so important and
beneficial without first consulting the people. What more when he
acknowledged that being the second largest state in the country, Sabah
required huge funds to develop, especially areas in the rural and
interior," he said.
He also reminded the fact that Sabah is currently the poorest state in the
country still with the highest number of jobless people, which he
described as dubious when given the fact that Sabah is blessed with
abundance of natural resources, in particular oil and gas.
Chong thus said Musa's refusal to seek for higher oil royalty clearly
shows that he does not care whether the state and the people are poor, as
long as he keep his job and all the perks that come with it as the Chief
Minister.
"Everybody knows that he (Musa) is appointed by Kuala Lumpur . So there is
no wonder why he dare not asking for more oil royalty. That is why SAPP is
fighting for an autonomy State government so that we could decide on
whatever matters or policies that are beneficial to the people on our own,
without having to refer to or worse kowtowing to Kuala Lumpur . Don't
forget that we are supposed to be equal partners when we formed the
Federation of Malaysia together with Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak in
1963," he said.
He then said no wonder a majority of the Sabah Barisan Nasional component
parties were unhappy with Musa's administration. He cited for example LDP
deputy chief Datuk Chin Su Phin had recently called for changes to the
current Sabah Barisan Nasional leadership.
He claimed that even the UPKO leaders and members were grumbling about it.
He also called on Musa to give a satisfactory explanation on the
persisting power supply and healthcare situation in the State, despite all
the constant boasts of billions of allocations by the Federal Government
all these years.
He noted that Musa had said that under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP),
Sabah received more than RM20 billions from the Federal Government, which
did not include funds from the Private Funding Initiative (PFI).
Chong especially questioned why despite being a cash-strapped
Government-linked Corporation (GLC) Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) resolved to
purchase second hand generators to boost power supply in Sabah .
He thus said this clearly showed that the Federal Government was never
sincere in wanting to resolve the perennial power supply problem affecting
the State.
"But sadly, Musa and the entire State Cabinet continue to keep mum or play
dumb for fear of losing their jobs," he lamented.
On Musa's remark that Sabah always get funds from the Federal Government
when it asks, Chong turned around and asked how come till to-date Sabah is
still very much far behind the other States in terms of development.
He thus reiterated that it is only appropriate that the State government
seek for a higher oil royalty from the Petronas, so that it could make
full use of the money to better develop the State and to uplift the
peoples' living standard, instead of having to constantly beg from the
Federal Government.
"Furthermore, the oil is found in Sabah's own backyard. Tengku Razaleigh
was right for saying that Sabah's oil is for the people of Sabah," he
said.
Sabahans
|
Sabahans' right and autonomy
|
|
