Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof
KUCHING: Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has been told to stop distracting voters from the coalition’s unfulfilled election promises by stirring up the dilapidated school issue.
In a statement on Friday, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chief whip Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs ought to tell Sarawakians why he and other state PH leaders remained silent when many development projects approved for Sarawak by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN)-led government were cancelled.
“Chong should tell us why none of the PH election promises made in the 14th general election have been fulfilled, thus far.
“He himself was the one who promised the 20 per cent oil and gas royalty, and 50 per cent tax revenue collected in Sarawak be returned to the state, if PH successfully captured Putrajaya,” he stressed.
Fadillah, who is Petra Jaya MP, said the issue on dilapidated schools had been addressed and even the previous government had allocated a large budget for this purpose.
He said although the current PH government did not continue with previous budget allocations, mechanisms to continue to rebuild and repair the dilapidated schools had already been agreed upon between the Sarawak and federal governments.
Fadillah said at the very least, the Sarawak government was sincere in its fight for these school projects.
“So, where is Chong’s sincerity? If he’s sincere, why does he not fulfil the PH Sarawak manifesto? Why is he not fighting for Sarawak’s rights when many projects for Sarawak are not being pursued?” he questioned.
Fadillah reminded Chong that education is under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
“Among those who have served as Minister of Education are (Prime Minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (1974 to 1978); (Port Dickson MP) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (1986 to 1991), and (Home Affairs Minister) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (2009 to 2013 and 2013 to 2015), who are now all with PH.
“Thus, it is clear that Chong’s ongoing criticism on the issue of dilapidated schools, which is being jointly addressed by the state and federal governments, is only intended to cover PH Sarawak’s own failure,” he added.