KOTA KINABALU: Sabahans will never forget Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his alleged “Project IC” that has caused such permanent damage to the State, said Upko acting president Datuk Seri Wilfed Madius Tangau.
“He (Mahathir) has never apologised for this; and he did not apologise for this,” said Wilfred yesterday.
He said Mahathir, who is the chairman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), also did not address how the latter would repair the damage that the alleged “Project IC” had done to Sabah in his speech during the recent party’s annual general meeting (AGM) held in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
“In fact, his (Mahathir) did not touch on any Sabah and Sarawak issues at all – just like how he neglected us when he was PM (prime minister).
“It looks like this trend of Mahathir treating Sabah and Sarawak as unwanted orphans will continue should he and Pakatan (Harapan) take power in the 14th General Election (GE14).
“For this, Sabah people will continue to reject Mahathir and his allies in Sabah, DAP, PKR and Warisan (Rakyat),” said Wilfred.
Wilfred, who is Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, also cited that in his speech during the PPBM’s AGM Mahathir had promised to reduce foreign workers by five millions if they win in the GE14.
He said presently, there were 500,000 people listed as unemployed so there would be a shortfall of 4.5 million workers.
“There is no guarantee that locals may want to take up the dirty, dangerous or difficult jobs vacated by the foreign workers so to me, this is just a populist promise that PPBM has no real strategy to fulfill.
“However, I hope Mahathir’s idea to replace the 4.5 million workers shortfall is not to do a Project IC 2.0 to give the foreign workers Malaysian citizenship,” Wilfred contended.
Mahathir on Saturday apologised for his past mistakes when he was prime minister and confirmed that he is likely to stand in the general election.