Don’t point fingers at Warisan for Sabah’s problems today, solve water shortage, Shafie tells Hajiji
KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — Former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has dismissed claims that his then Warisan government was a failure.
He drew attention to Sabah’s current water disruption which he said was the first in the state’s history to last for a period of eight days and had occurred under the state government led by Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
“I would like to talk about the state government of the day. Don’t point fingers at us. Don’t accuse us of being a failure.
“Today, in Sabah, the water crisis, is not on the outskirts, it is in the city centre — the Kota Kinabalu Airport, Penampang, Luyang, and I’m not even talking about the affected areas on the outskirts.
“In fact, if we look at the State Water Department, they issued a notice on Sunday (March 10) telling the people who need water to get it from the Kiulu district, but do they realise that the distance for villagers to travel is as far as 10 miles with a water tank? What does that indicate?” Shafie told a press conference at the Parliament building here today, questioning the absence of the Sabah Water Department in times of such a crisis.
He stressed that not only is there a water shortage, but several parts of Sabah have also been facing a power shortage.
“Today I received word that there will be power rationing. Not only is the city centre, but also in areas where the villages are located.
“This is the failure of the government that is worrying, to a point whereby the citizens of Sabah have to face not only the rising price of goods, but also poor roads and a-yet-to-be completed the Pan-Borneo Highway.
“There must be a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on this: Where has the money gone since we introduced the Pan-Borneo Highway in 2016?” he said.
He said billions had been allocated, and hence, an RCI was needed.
“If cars could talk, they would complain that their feet are painful — their tyres have been punctured. If cars could talk, they would say that their waist hurts, their absorber is damaged. If roads could talk, they would say they have a lot of holes that haven’t been patched up.
“That is if they could talk. But these are the problems that I can see, don’t blame (us). You are the government of the day, that has governed for almost three years, compared to our two years,” he said.
Yesterday, Hajiji dismissed claims that the GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) Plus government led by him has been a letdown and failed to bring development to the state.
He had said that the Opposition, especially Warisan, should look at the latter’s performance during its two-year reign before accusing the GRS PH Plus government of being a failure.
Hajiji said the then Warisan government under Shafie as chief minister would not have been rejected by the people in the last state election if it had brought development to the state.
