Guan Eng accuses Adenan of breaking promises to Sarawakians

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Lim (second right) signs on a big ‘Ubah’ for donor Teresa Ng Lee Yong (third right). Also seen from left are DAP’s candidate for Padungan Wong King Wei, Yong, Chiew and Chong.

Lim (second right) signs on a big ‘Ubah’ for donor Teresa Ng Lee Yong (third right). Also seen from left are DAP’s candidate for Padungan Wong King Wei, Yong, Chiew and Chong.

KUCHING: National DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has accused Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem of breaking the promises he made to Sarawakians.

He also alleged that it was not good for Adenan to ‘sink and swim’ with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“Where is the 20 per cent oil and gas royalty? Where is open tender for development projects and alienation of state lands? If he does not practise what he preaches, Sarawakians should not give him the absolute power.

“Sarawak state election is also important to Malaysia. Adenan says Najib is good for Sarawak. What has Najib given to Sarawak? Yes, Najib has given Sarawak GST.

“Do you want GST?” he said when launching the party’s operations centre for Padungan at Mid-Point Trading Co. at Jalan Padungan here yesterday.

Lim added that Sarawakians must send a strong message to Adenan and Najib in the coming state election if they felt that GST had burdened their lives.

“If you want to abolish GST, you must not let them win handsomely. Let Putrajaya hear your stand on GST.”

He said two other DAP leaders Chow Kon Yeow and Ngeh Koo Han were supposed to be with him during this working trip but Ngeh was denied entry into the state at Kuching International Airport yesterday morning.

He regarded the ban as an abuse of power given that “a gentle person like Ngeh who is also a pastor was not allowed to enter Sarawak.”

Even Adenan’s predecessor Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud did not abuse the state’s autonomy on immigration, he argued.

“Adenan is scared, and that is why they banned those leaders who just wanted to be here for legitimate election activities. Now that I’m allowed the entry, it means that I’m not a heavyweight.”

He said DAP supported Sarawak’s autonomy on immigration but condemned Adenan’s abuse of power.

On another matter, Lim claimed that the Sarawak government is not the first state government in Malaysia which recognised Unified Examinations Certificate (UEC) as the Penang government had been recognising UEC since 2008.

“We did that already, and with no condition. There is no need for an SPM BM pass, and we have also recruited UEC holders,” he said.

When contacted, Dong Zong president Temenggong Datuk Vincent Lau Lee Ming confirmed that Sarawak is the first state in Malaysia to announce officially its recognition of UEC.

“The Chief Minister of Sarawak Adenan announced the recognition officially. Adenan is very persistent of the state’s recognition of UEC and he even said that he doesn’t care what the federal government does and that he is prepared to stand up for it.”

Lau said Lim could have said it on other occasions, but it was Sarawak state government which made the first official announcement.

Lim stood by his statement that UEC holders could only be employed under state-owned companies because civil service was still under the federal government.

Sarawak state government had started recruiting UEC holders into its state civil service.

Among those present were state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jeng and former assemblypersons Violet Yong (Pending), Wong King Wei (Padungan) and Christina Chiew (Batu Kawa).