Desmond Kho
KUCHING: Some of the protests against the setting up of the Federal Village Community Management Council (MPKKP) is bordering on the absurd and is indicative that the GPS state government is simply clutching at straws, said PKR Sarawak information chief Desmond Kho.
He cited as a typical example, reported in a local English daily, in which Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar James Masing was quoted as saying that funding through MPKKP is illegal and akin to money laundering.
“It really is the epitome of fantasy of how GPS equates federal funds for community initiatives with money laundering.
He said that according to Bank Negara Malaysia’s website, money laundering is defined as “a process of converting cash or property derived from criminal activities to give it a legitimate appearance. It is a process to clean ‘dirty’ money in order to disguise its criminal origin.”
“The money (for MPKKP) is clearly money from the federal government for government initiatives. It is as legitimate as money can get,” he said in a statement Saturday.
The fundamental error of the GPS leadership, he added, is to confuse the MPKKP funding with the recent funds that PRS received from former premier Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“In the latter it has been been found out that the funds had originated from an illegal scam on 1MDB. Thence they were issued with a notice by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for being recipients of the funds dished out by Najib.
“Maybe they should seek a proper understanding of the law on money laundering before making any public accusations which could ultimately be embarrassing to themselves. If this is the simplistic understanding of Law that they are applying then it is no wonder that they are spinning their wheels trying to make the Federal Constitution work for Sarawak,” he opined.
Masing also reportedly said that the “Pakatan Harapan (PH) or any institution or individual giving funds to the federal government’s Village Community Management Council (MPKK) should be charged under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFA)”.
Saying that Sarawak has experts in every field, he said, and they deserve leaders who are better advised and more qualified to the task.
“Therefore the message is clear and the writing is on the wall for GPS “don’t be bitter, be better”, and if you can’t be better, then maybe for the good of Sarawak, you better be gone,” he said.
He explained that MPKKP, which is a vehicle for delivering and facilitating federal government initiatives in Sarawak, seems to have struck a raw nerve in the GPS state government.
“Additionally this initiative was only developed and done only after it had surfaced that GPS had instructed their Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) to boycott non-state events and left PH with no other choice. This was so that local Sarawakians are not victimised and left behind,” he added.