Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman
KUCHING (Oct 19): The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government has given Sarawak ‘preferentially harsh treatment’ when it was in power after the 2018 general election, said Tupong assemblyman Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman.
Referring to the PH government’s treatment of schools in Sarawak, Fazzrudin said that the responsibility to repair all schools – dilapidated or not – falls under the federal government in line with the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
“Therefore, the Sarawak government is justified in demanding that the federal government repair schools in the state.
“Against this background, and with the federal government not having sufficient funds to cover the school repairs, the Sarawak government set aside their differences with the then PH controlled federal government and offered to advance RM1 billion in loan repayment for the school repairs to materialise swiftly,” he said in a statement.
The chief political secretary to the Premier was commenting on PH Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s defence of former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s demand for Sarawak to settle its RM1 billion debt to Putrajaya before allocations to repair dilapidated schools were set aside.
The DAP Sarawak chairman had also asked Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg not to deviate from the truth regarding this RM1 billion repayment issue following the statement made by the latter at a town hall session in Kuala Lumpur recently that he was challenged by Lim four years ago to repay the loan from the federal government in advance.
Fazzrudin said PH leaders should have the political will to set aside their differences with the Sarawak government and extend the necessary assistance particularly on matters that are sensitive and of urgent importance.
He said Chong should have fought hard for this rather than to keep silent and let the people of Sarawak bear the brunt of political games.
He pointed out that the matter with the schools would have been resolved had it not been for the delay by the Ministry of Finance – then headed by Lim – in fixing the dilapidated schools.
“This showed that the PH government was not serious in assisting the students in Sarawak who were in dire need of improved education facilities,” he said.
He said Chong’s explanation that the PH government had to cut red tapes and give Sarawak “preferential treatment” to channel the RM1 billion as direct grant is “itself an attempt at fact-twisting.”
“That was not ‘preferential treatment’, it was ‘preferentially harsh treatment’,” said Fazzrudin, who described Chong’s statement as ill-conceived and insensitive to the needs of the people of Sarawak.
He also said that the issue on the repair of dilapidated schools has been treated as a political ploy by DAP and PH.
“The PH federal government there and then could have coughed up the funds by themselves to repair the dilapidated schools had they chosen to. But they did not.
“They ‘preferred’ to put us on a never-ending charade where the children in Sarawak is held at ransom over what can only be described as petty politicking,” he said, adding that the people of Sarawak can see them for what they are and still remember how they were treated by DAP and PH.