Kota Kinabalu: Warisan’s Tungku Assemblyman Assafal P Alian said State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun lament on GLCs demonstrates its failure to issue significant policy and direction for the State.
“I’m curious why Masidi is only now making the disclosure, given that GRS has been in power for three years. Does this imply that our State GLCs performed successfully in the first two years?
“If it didn’t, we’ve already squandered hundreds of millions of ringgit (via all these GLCs), and we can’t allow these failed Chairpersons or Board of Directors to sit there for another year.”
The State Government owns the majority of the GLCs in the state, and the Chairpersons or Board of Directors would have been nominated with the assumption that they would lead and manage the GLCs in accordance with the governing party’s or coalition’s policy, direction, and aspirations for Sabah.
However, if the State Cabinet is as incompetent and believes that their position is merely managerial, then most of these Chairpersons or Board of Directors will sit idly as well, resulting in the non-performance that Masidi mentioned.
GRS leaders must be held accountable, not the staff of these GLCs; after all, many of these Chairpersons or Board of Directors were selected by the same people who currently sit in the State Cabinet,” he said in a statement.
Assafal also believe that it is the GRS State Cabinet Ministers who are weak and fearful of losing their position that causes incompetency in the State from top to bottom.
“It was reported in June this year that some RM320 million of Federal aid to alleviate our water crisis has been approved and this amount is much lower than the RM10 billion needed by Sabah.
But when the Kota Belud Member of Parliament, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis made a query at Dewan Rakyat on Nov 9 the status of the RM320 million, it is shocking to know that the sum has been placed under the RMK12 in whereby the first tranche of RM200 million will be released under Rolling Plan 4 (RP4) while the balance (RM120 million) under Rolling Plan 5 (RP5).
“This is no aid, grant or loan at all but a normal development allocation,” he said.
He said adding salt to the injury, Sabah was given an allocation of RM200 million under RP4 to solve a very pressing issue whereas other States at Peninsular such as Melaka and Perak are applying for RM13.93 billion and RM9.12 billion respectively for development under RP4 RMK12.
Other states are applying billions of ringgit under RP4 but why the State Cabinet settled for only RM200 million (under RP4)?” he asked.
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