Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing
BINTULU: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad should put on record how much allocation he approved annually for Sabah and Sarawak while in power for 22 years as prime minister of Malaysia.
Member of Parliament for Bintulu, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing told reporters here yesterday that Dr Mahathir owed Sabah and Sarawak an apology for failing to give sufficient funds to develop rural areas in the two Borneo states.
“I am not talking about tar-sealed road here, suffice if he can provide treated water supply and power supply to our rural folks,” Tiong stressed.
Tiong revealed that he wrote many letters to Dr Mahathir requesting for development but none were replied by the former premier.
“I was away when people called me for comments and I have been reading and watching video of his speech in Kuching. When I watched the video I am saddened by what he said, because I started as an MP in 1999 under him. In the video he was talking as if he was never the prime minister of Malaysia, so much difference.
“When he was in power, so much revenue generated by Sabah and Sarawak, he enjoyed so much that he forgot about Sabah and Sarawak. Why today when no longer PM suddenly he cares so much about Sabah and Sarawak?
“At the same time, I want to ask him how much allocation he gave to Sabah and Sarawak in a year. By right, he should seek forgiveness from the people of Sabah and Sarawak. While in power, he totally forgot about Sabah and Sarawak. The people were living in hardship,” he said.
Tiong also took veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang to task for making so much noise when his son Lim Guan Eng has nothing to shout about as the Chief Minister of Penang.
“Lim Kit Siang better go back and ask his son, what he (Lim Guan Eng) has achieved to uplift the livelihood of the Penang people.”
Taking a swipe at the flash flood that happened regularly in Penang of late, Tiong said Lim would have been quick to blame the Barisan Nasional government if any non-Pakatan state was affected by flood.
“He will say Barisan Nasional government is incompetent and not fit to administer the state whenever flood happens. However, when Penang is affected by floods, he keeps quiet but his men will reason that flood is an act of God,” he lamented.