KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is "disconnected" from the realities facing ordinary people in the state.
Hitting back a day after Hajiji described him as a "dreamer" and "outdated" leader, Bung Moktar said Hajiji had no idea of the suffering on the ground.
"He was denying the reality of the people's problems when he accused me of being outdated and delusional.
"Perhaps the honourable CM is far more disconnected from the real suffering of the people that he is not aware of what's happening in Sabah," Bung Moktar said in a statement on Friday (April 5).
Bung Moktar had earlier said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah state government failed the people by not putting proper infrastructure in place for adequate water and electricity supply, as well as roads.
In response, Hajiji then described Bung Moktar as someone caught in his own outdated imagination.
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In his statement, Bung Moktar said the Chief Minister seemed not to realise that Sabah was facing a water crisis, with its citizens complaining about supply often getting cut for days at a time.
"Are the people also outdated and delusional?" he asked.
He said Sabah's electricity supply interruption of 300 minutes per user per year on average was the highest in the country.
"Are the people also so out of date that they don't know this data and have just given up over the constant power outages?" he added.
He also said Hajiji appeared "blissfully unaware" of increasing poverty in the state, instead choosing to put up Sabah Maju Jaya billboards all over the state.
Bung Moktar, who pulled Sabah Barisan out of the GRS government in January last year, said it was his right as an assemblyman to raise issues faced by the people.
He said that when he was deputy chief minister, he had asked the Federal Government to make the Sabah Public Works Department a certified technical department.
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"This is important so that the rate of development in this state can be accelerated without (needing) the approval of the federal technical department, (cutting down on) bureaucracy.
"We don't want a development budget of billions to be announced every year, only for the allocation to go unused because of (delays) in approval.
"Am I outdated and delusional in my own mind?" he asked.
He said Hajiji had made numerous announcements about investments for the state that would create thousands of jobs for the people and catalyse development.
"I would like to ask, what progress has been made for the following projects: Tanjung Aru Eco Development Project, Papar Dam, KK Resort City, Lokawi Resort City and others.
"I would like to ask the honourable CM, what proactive measures have been implemented to reduce poverty, in terms of access to education, health, affordable housing, quality basic facilities, and an increased income?" he said.
These were important measures to systematically reduce the poverty rate in the state, he added.
"My advice to Hajiji is to realise that putting up rows of billboards throughout the state will not change people's lives," he said.
