KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan should be contributing to helping flood victims, instead of belittling the government’s relief efforts as a federal unity government member, Sabah PKR says in a statement.
PKR reminded that assisting flood victims with emergency aid is a joint responsibility of the state and federal governments, NGOs, local communities and political parties.
"We appreciate anyone who goes down to the ground, including leaders of the Opposition political parties.
"Warisan should support efforts to coordinate aid so that it is more organised, instead of creating negative perceptions of civil servants doing their jobs as ‘first responders’ every time a disaster strikes," Sabah PKR said.
Warisan is in opposition to the state government under the GRS-Pakatan Harapan led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
"All parties should set aside their political interests to prioritise the people's welfare," Sabah PKR said, adding that they would ensure that all allocations reach disaster victims, restore basic infrastructure, and ensure major projects such as the Pan Borneo Highway were smoothly implemented.
"We invite all political parties in Sabah, including Warisan, to jointly support the efforts of the government and civil servants who are the backbone on the ground.
“This is the time to show solidarity with the people, instead of complicating the situation with baseless accusations.
Sabah PKR also criticised decisions to terminate water contractors without a transition plan during the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan government (2018-20) as a key cause of Sabah's water problems.
"The state GRS-PH government was forced to make an out-of-court settlement decision to avoid the risk of greater compensation and ensure that water plant operations are not disrupted," Sabah PKR said.
Sabah PKR said the state government's focus was now on repairing water infrastructure, strengthening the audit system and ensuring that the “money in the office cupboard” scandal does not happen again, referring to the 2016 water corruption scandal during the Barisan Nasional rule of the state.
On the issues of delay in Sabah's completion of the Pan-Borneo project, Sabah PKR said that the termination of the project delivery partner (PDP) of the Sabah portion during Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s chief ministership had affected the progress of the road project.
"Shafie himself admitted that the decision to cancel the consulting company was made due to political considerations involving a consulting company owned by a political party member," Sabah PKR said.
Ironically, they noted that there was weak coordination and the absence of a strong alternative financial model, which caused this project to stall and delayed its benefits for Sabah people.
Sabah PKR said the government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, together with the Sabah government, was fully committed to restoring the Pan Borneo project’s momentum.
"The main focus is to ensure that this project is completed on schedule, provide employment opportunities for locals and improve the safe and modern road network throughout the state," the statement said.
Sabah PKR said that the people do not want to continue to be presented with polemics about who is right and who is wrong, but instead demand immediate action to resolve basic issues such as floods, water supply and infrastructure development.
