Congrats and 3 immediate tasks for Raymond Tan as new Sabah DCM
Congrats to Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Deputy President Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah on his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Vice President Datuk Liew Yun Fan as Minister for Youth and Sports..
I do not expect any thanks from the duo, although all Sabahans know that if not for my strong criticisms of the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman during my three-day political tour of Tawau, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan last weekend for leaving vacant the two posts relinquished by Tan Sri Chong Kah Keat and the marginalization of both the Chinese and the Kadazandusun Murut communities in Sabah Baru, both appointments would have remained shelved.
Although the Sabah State Secretary Datuk K. Y. Mustafa said yesterday that Musa had informed the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of the reshuffle on April 25 and he had agreed to the appointments, nobody would believe Mustapha’s statement.
If Mustapha was speaking the truth, then Musa has a blackmark in setting the worst record for any state government leader in having to take nine long days to implement such a decision, which would normally be announced on the very same day itself
Can Musa explain the reasons for such gross incompetence and ineptitude?
Mustafa was clearly trying to shield the Chief Minister and fend off my political criticisms of Musa on this issue, but it is not his job as the state’s No. 1 civil servant to be embroiled in the political waters.
Mustafa should zealously safeguard the independence, impartiality, professionalism and image of the state civil service and not compromise them by doing political yeoman service for his political master.
Mustafa should leave politics to the politicians and do a good job as a model civil servant in the state by demonstrating that as the No. 1 civil servant in Sabah, he fully understands the meaning of civil service independence, impartiality, integrity and non-partisanship and is guided by these principles in his every action and statement.
Now that Raymond Tan has been appointed a Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, on top of his post as Infrastructure Development Minister, there are two things he must do to demonstrate that he does not forget his “roots” and that he is a Deputy Chief Minister with “teeth”.
Firstly, Raymond should give himself one month to resolve all the woes of the scandalous RM34 million new Sandakan market, especially as he
is one of the Sandakan State Assemblymen, in particular
- why the grandious “white elephant” of a market in Sandakan incur a cost overrun of over 60% from the original RM21 million to RM34 million, whether there was corruption and if so, why nobody had been arrested and prosecuted for corruption;
- why the State Government and the Sandakan Municipal Council had ignored the cries of the stallholders who had moved in for the past few months that they could not make ends meet, being sandwiched between high rentals and poor business as a result of bad siting, lack of supportive infrastructure like proper bus service and sub-standard construction despite exorbitant construction costs.
Secondly get formal State Cabinet approval for the world’s tallest Mazu statue in Kudat now that Musa has publicly stated that he had not objected to it; and
Thirdly, set a timetable to address and resolve the curses of 2Cs and 2Is in Sabah, which was the thrust of my speech in Sandakan last Sunday, namely crime and corruption for the 2Cs and illegal immigrants and infrastructure failures for the 2Is, in particular the longstanding water and power infrastructures woes in Sandakan and Tawau.
May 4th, 2007 at 15: 37.07
“Secondly get formal State Cabinet approval for the world’s tallest Mazu statue in Kudat now that Musa has publicly stated that he had not objected to it…”
Even the simple construction of a lifeless statue has been politicized! Are we bankrupt of all ideas to have to go this far??
May 4th, 2007 at 16: 24.14
until ignorant Sabahans wake up, or gain decent access to education - no point telling them about all these farcical corruptions in local governance over there…
…they won’t understand, just like batu talam, machap, ijok…
May 4th, 2007 at 17: 27.51
I will give my salute to those newly appointed castings in Sabah’s ” F.R.I.E.N.D.S ” series.
Actually, they are very fortunate to be selected among those whom submit by their respective agents.
Negeri Di Bawah Bayu …. to Negeri Dibawa Layu ..
May 4th, 2007 at 17: 37.25
Dear YB,
Your pressure may have expedited the appointments but I also liked to believe AAB made the mother of all boos boos when he commented that CKK’s departure is of no significance and when he realised the intensity of the backlash, he quickly called CKK to Putrajaya for damage control discussions. The outcome of that meeting are these appointments. Otherwise Musa would have preferred Dato Rahim, his comrade in arms.
May 4th, 2007 at 19: 15.14
As long as you are in Khairy’s good books, you’ll be right
May 4th, 2007 at 19: 49.33
“If Mustapha was speaking the truth, then Musa has a blackmark in setting the worst record for any state government leader in having to take nine long days to implement such a decision, which would normally be announced on the very same day itself” LKS
You forgot the State Secretary has first to wake up the Prime Minister a most unpopular task particularly when you are the #1 government servant.
May 5th, 2007 at 02: 34.47
To “accountability”:
are you a well educated frog? inside the well?
I must assume you are, and you never been to Sabah. So keep your comments to yourself.
May 6th, 2007 at 22: 31.14
Why spend 200mil ringgit of taxpayers money when the logging concessionaries have profitted billions of ringgit without spending a cent on forest rehabilitation programs? Why should the rakyat bear this huge financial burden at the expense of these irresponsible logging companies? Is this the BN way of managing sustainable logging? The BN government has no political will to put a stop to rampant and serious illegal logging throughout the country due to many of its own corrupted politicians benefiting from it.
May 6, 12:49 AM EDT
Report: Malaysia seeks to rehabilitate Borneo rain forests marred by logging
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities need 200 million ringgit (US$58 million; €42 million) to replant trees and restore heavily logged forests that are home to thousands of orangutans on Borneo island, a news report said Sunday.
Forest rehabilitation efforts will focus on 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of logged jungles that are considered the “crown jewels” of environmental diversity in Malaysia’s Sabah state in Borneo, Sabah Forestry Director Sam Mannan was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.
An environmental restoration and management plan for the Ulu Semaga-Malua forests will be finalized by the end of 2007, requiring at least 200 million ringgit of funds from the federal government and private donors, Mannan added.
Conservationists say rain forests in Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia have increasingly shrunk in recent decades because of the spread of the timber industry and palm oil plantations. Malaysian officials have played down these concerns, saying that the clearing of forests is monitored and controlled under environmental protection laws.
The key objective of Sabah’s forest rehabilitation plan is the conservation of 3,000 orangutans in Ulu Semaga-Malua, which also contains a wide array of wildlife and plants, Mannan reportedly said.
Sabah Forestry Department officials could not immediately be reached to confirm the report.
Wildlife experts have estimated that 13,000 orangutans live in the wild in Sabah, accounting for one-fifth of their total population. Sabah’s forests are also home to other rare animals such as Bornean pygmy elephants and Sumatran rhinos.
A recent United Nations report said oil palm plantations are expanding so fast in Malaysia and Indonesia that almost no virgin forest will remain by 2022. If that happens, the orangutan could be virtually extinct in five years, it said.