KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has accused Chief Minister Musa Aman of only protecting his own position and interests, instead of the state and its people.
Its Information Chief Chong Pit Fah said this was obvious when Musa refused to seek for a higher oil royalty from the Federal Government who have full control of Petronas.
“He (Musa) is only protecting his own position and interests, that is why he said there is no need for the State to ask for higher oil royalty from Kuala Lumpur,” said Chong.
He was responding to Musa’s statement that the amount of allocations from the Federal Government pouring into Sabah was more important than discussing an increase in oil royalty for the state.
Musa said whether or not the oil royalty is increased, when Sabah asked for allocation from the Federal Government, the latter gives.
Chong however said it was unacceptable that Musa has refused outright to negotiate with the Federal Government for a higher oil royalty, which would significantly boost the development of the State and the standard of living of its people.
“Even though he is the Chief Minister of Sabah, he has no right to deprive the State and its people of something that is so important and beneficial without first consulting the people.
“ What more when he acknowledged that being the second largest state in the country, Sabah required huge funds to develop, especially areas in the rural and interior,” he said.
He reminded that Sabah is currently the poorest state in the country with the highest number of jobless people and at the same time is blessed with abundance of natural resources, in particular oil and gas.
Chong said Musa’s refusal to seek for higher oil royalty clearly showed that he did not care whether the state and the people are poor.
“He is more concerned about his job and the perks. Everybody knows that he (Musa) is appointed by Kuala Lumpur. It is no wonder that he dare not ask for more oil royalty."
SAPP is fighting for an autonomous state government to allow the state to make policy decisions that are beneficial to the people without having to refer to Kuala Lumpur.
"We are supposed to be equal partners when we formed the Federation of Malaysia together with Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak in 1963,” Chong said.
He claimed that a majority of the Sabah Barisan Nasional component parties are unhappy with Musa’s administration with LDP deputy chief Chin Su Phin exposing this when he called for changes to the current Sabah Barisan Nasional leadership.
Chong claimed that even the UPKO leaders and members were grumbling about it.
He said despite all the talk of billions of allocations from the Federal Government all these years, there has still been no satisfactory explanation from the state government on the persistent power supply shortage and healthcare problems in the State.
He noted that Musa had said that under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), Sabah received more than RM20 billion from the Federal Government, which did not include funds from the Private Funding Initiative (PFI).
Chong especially questioned why despite being a cash-strapped Government-linked Corporation (GLC) Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) resolved to purchase second hand generators to boost power supply in Sabah.
He said this clearly showed that the Federal Government was not sincere in wanting to resolve the perennial power supply problem affecting the State.
“Sadly, Musa and the entire State Cabinet continue to keep mum or play dumb for fear of losing their jobs,” he said.
On Musa’s remark that Sabah always get funds from the Federal Government when it asks, Chong turned around and asked if this was so why is Sabah still far behind the other States in terms of development.
In view of this, he said that it is only appropriate that the state government seek higher oil royalties from the Petronas and use the money to uplift the peoples’ living standard, instead of having to constantly beg from the Federal Government.
“Furthermore, the oil is found in Sabah’s own backyard. Tengku Razaleigh was right in saying that Sabah’s oil is for the people of Sabah,” he said.
14 comments:
The agreement is between fed and the previous CM.... what do you expect Datuk Musa do? I don't think he himself like or agree to the agreement but it is already been made... I know he also will struggle to get what is actually benefited to all Sabahans....
SAPP is to bring like these, just because of their own president YTL doing the same thing? I mean yeah, after his showroom ends as CM, by that time only he stands and speak up to any issues ...
I do not know how to deal with these issue by law but in logically, we had right to ask for more ..
cm knew what he do and willing to accept any criticism. he have his own reasons why he did so. the other party deliberately using this matter as their weapon and for their interests as well.
We will never know what Musa is after, he might go after his own interest or might be planning the best things for Sabah. Sabah is a poor state, that i agree and I know our CM is doing his best for ourstate.
Perhaps Musa does not want to dig up past, but rather focus more on the present.
Accepting any criticisms and rumors is one of the hardest thing to do, but CM still stand against it.
CM agak dilema samada untuk meneruskan permintaan rakyat royalti minyak dinaikkan atau tidak. Perkara ini perlu dirujuk kepada pemimpin-pemimpin terdahulu.
We should not dwell in the past, but try to move forward. He must have his own reason why he does not fight for more oil royalty rights.
Maybe he thinks that going after the royalty rights is not worth the effort.And he rather spend more time doing other things that can benefit the state more.
Isu seperti ini sebenarnya dilihat sebagai tidak professional dan menunjukkan parti terlibat ingin jadi 'hero' di kalangan masyarakat. Apa yang sebenarnya cuba diterangkan oleh parti ini? Dalam hal ini jangan isu nak minta kenaikan royalti minyak ni diletakkan di bahu CM sahaja. Kenapa tidak semua parti di negeri ini termasuk SAPP berganding bahu sama-sama menuntut hak yang sepatutnya secara muafakat! Saya rasa semua orang tahu implikasi kepada CM sendiri sekiranya dia mengemukakan usul royalti minyak ini kepada kerajaan pusat? Isu royalti minyak ini memang hangat dan semakin diperbincangkan semakin panas membara! Oleh itu, kenalah ada persiapan dan perbincangan yang sewajarnya. Bukannya main suruh-suruh saja.......bagi saya adalah tidak wajar menuduh CM mementingkan diri dalam hal ini?
Barangkali CM kita sekarang tengah sibuk membangunkan negeri kita. Tiada masa mahu sibuk hal yang lain. Lagipun, kalau mahu royalti minyak lebih, kenapa dulu Yong Teck Lee tidak pergi memperjuangkan. Sampai sekarang baru mahu menunding jari terhadap CM sekarang. SAPP memang muka berdua.
Lagipun, bukan cakap mahu memperjuangkan boleh terus dapat. Kita orang biasa tidak faham hal-hal berkaitan undang-undang, mungkin Datuk Musa pernah terfikir mahu membangkit isu ini, tapi dari segi undang-undang tidak membenarkan. Manalah kami tahu?
Adalah tidak wajar menuduh CM mementingkan diri dalam hal ini. Bagi saya kita patut tanya sama Harris Salleh dan Pairin Kitingan, kenapa tidak disediakan satu ruang dalam perjanjian royalti untuk “revision” peratus royalti negeri Sabah kerana ianya menyukarkan kerajaan negeri untuk mendapatkan kenaikkan royalti minyak. Walau bagaimanapun perkara ini hanya dapat diselesaikan dengan adanya perbincangan diantara kerajaan pusat dan kerajaan negeri.
It's unfair to say he his selfish and only wants to after his own interest. He's doing all he can for the people. I think this will be YTL's political agenda. Instead of accusing the CM, why didn't he do the same thing? Instead of trying to be a "Hero", try and propose something that is useful for the people..
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