Datu Dr Penguang Manggil
MARUDI: Assistant Minister of Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil said he would leave it to the public to judge his handling of the Marudi petrol kiosk relocation issue.
When asked for his comments on the accusation stated in an open letter by Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon about the Sarawak government making a politically-driven U-turn on the situation, he said he refused to be drawn into a public debate over an issue that had been resolved.
“I listened to the people and acted in their best interest – that’s more important than politicking,” he said yesterday.
Penguang, who is Marudi assemblyman, also said the unhappy party did not approach him for any dialogue over the issue, although he was unsure if they had approached the local community leaders there prior to a town hall session, which was held later on.
A group of locals, led by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), staged a peaceful protest in Marudi over the originally proposed site for the relocation, claiming that it was the only children’s playground in town.
On this, Penguang pointed out that it (site) was never gazetted as one.
“It was an empty piece of state land where Marudi District Council decided to put some facilities and made it a children’s playground for public use,” he said.
After the protest Penguang, accompanied by representatives from relevant government agencies, held a townhall session with the affected community, where he assured them that he would do his best to resolve the issue amicably without any political interference from outside parties.
He brought the issue to the attention of the Ministry of Urban Planning and Natural Resources and met Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg on Wednesday afternoon.
The Chief Minister later consented to a strategic new location – a site behind Kampung Cina.
Penguang announced the news on the new location in Marudi the following day, a development which was welcomed as a win-win solution for all parties.
In response to this, Dr Ting said in his letter that while welcoming the decision, he claimed that the action was politically-meant as a damage control, instead of being done out of real compassion for the people.