KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem is urged to reveal the deadlines for the completion and delivery of those projects promised during the Balingian by-election campaign.
Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said: “We are not objecting to the chief minister continuing to celebrate their victory in the just-concluded Balingian by-election, but what matters most is the delivery of the promised projects.”
“The promises made by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, chief minister, federal and state ministers and deputy ministers during the election campaign “should not be the eggs of a turtle,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
See, who is also state PKR vice-chairman, said if the opposition (PR) was a hen as described by the chief minister it (hen) must have done an excellent job in the by-election.
“The opposition made the noise to bring (issues) to the attention of the federal and state BN, issues like the neglects and negligence of the BN that resulted in the lack of basic amenities and infrastructure development in Balingian.
“The outcome was the promised projects to the tune of RM600 million, made by the deputy prime minister, chief minister, federal and state cabinet ministers.”
See said it appeared that Adenan must have misunderstood the turtle story – that it’s only the female turtles that lay eggs.
“Depending on the species of the turtles, a mother turtle would lay 90 to 110 eggs each time, two to 10 times in a year, at intervals of 10 to 21 days. Hence a female turtle could lay 200 to 1,000 eggs in a nesting year.
“There is a good reason why a female turtle lays so many eggs. Besides the hatching success rate of 60-80 per cent, which is lower than that of a hen, turtles have natural predators including birds, fish and crabs which feed on the baby turtles. Research has shown that only one in 1,000 to 10,000 sea turtles live to maturity.”
See said he was naturally worried when Adenan said that BN promised and delivered development projects very much like a turtle lays eggs – that very little of the promises made will be delivered at the end of the day.
“Leakages, delay and non-delivery of promised projects by the federal and state governments are very common, not unlike the natural predators preying on turtle eggs.
“I hope the new chief minister is mindful of that and immediately set datelines for the completion and delivery of projects pledged during the just concluded Balingian by-election.”
Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian meanwhile said he was happy that Adenan acknowledged that PKR was like a hen that laid eggs. The people could judge for themselves whether it’s the hen or turtle that laid better eggs.