Awg Tengah gets flak over ‘desperadoes’ remark

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KUCHING: PBB senior vice president Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan shot himself on the foot when he called opposition politicians from Peninsular Malaysia ‘desperadoes’, said Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How.

See, who is state PKR vice chairman, said in fact, Awang Tengah’s speech at the presentation of land titles to 179 people at Kpg Lintang, some 60 km from Mukah on Wednesday, only revealed that he (Awang Tengah) and Barisan Nasional (BN) were the real ‘desperadoes’ in this Balingian by-election.

“In his speech, he (Awang Tengah) was admitting that in the last 50 years that the people had supported BN and especially in the last two decades, even though Balingian had the honour of being served by federal full ministers, state minister and chief minister, there were no economic and other developments in Balingian.

“And that they are just starting to plan for rural growth centre to try to wake up the ‘sleeping town’ as Awang Tengah was saying,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

On the land titles given out to the residents of Kpg Lintang and near Tellian area, See questioned the sincerity of the state government in giving land titles only now, when the residents had been living in the area for many generations.

“The people in Kpg Lintang have been there for many generations. Even Abdul Jalil Bujang’s grandmother couldn’t say when they actually started. It was a long time that they were without land titles. It was only at the eve if this election that they are given land titles to their land.”

See said it is good that Awang Tengah had finally realised that Balingian is in need of development and hopes that the latter will look into other more important as well as pressing needs of the people there.

“It is not too much for the people of Balingian to ask for another secondary school in Balingian because even the Education Department recognised that for such a big district and sub-district, you need an additional two secondary schools.

“So why not have another secondary school in Balingian? Why do you need so long and still haven’t have any plan? If there is a need, then you must plan and get it for the people.”

See said besides schools, most part of Balingian sub-district still had no piped water supply and that caused a big problem to them for over a month during the drought season recently.

“They had to resort to their wells, ponds and river water which is suspected to be very polluted and dirty. They even had to spend a lot of money to buy drinking water for their families.”

See hoped that the problems raised can be addressed immediately because they are the immediate needs of the people in Balingian.