KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Lim Kit Siang today chided Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for failing so far to visit the quake-hit areas of Sabah despite having declared just last month that he “owes Sabah”.

The DAP veteran said Najib, who is currently on a working visit to Saudi Arabia, could have easily flown to Sabah to visit Ranau and Kinabalu Park before he departed on Saturday night.

“One question uppermost among Sabahans when I visited the earthquake-hit zones of Ranau and Kinabalu Park yesterday was why Najib, who said only last month that ‘I owe Sabah’, did not visit Sabah over the Ranau/Kinabalu earthquake disaster before his Saudi Arabia trip on Saturday night,” Lim said in a statement here.

To make amends, the federal DAP lawmaker suggested that the prime minister visits the affected areas and oversees rehabilitation efforts immediately upon his return from Saudi Arabia.

He said Najib should ensure that all government agencies have started works to repair and rehabilitate the buildings and infrastructure damaged by the earthquake, as well as announce allocations to deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

“There should also be  a high-powered committee to address the various complaints and criticisms about the earthquake  emergency and relief operations to ensure that there is a world-class emergency contingency plan to deal with any mishap or disaster at Mount Kinabalu,” he added.

At around 7.15am on Friday, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck Sabah’s west coast, with reports stating that its epicentre was located 14km north of the Ranau - about two hours’ drive from state capital Kota Kinabalu.

State Meteorological Department director Abdul Malek Tussin said the earthquake depth was reported at 54km with tremors felt around Ranau, Tambunan, Tuaran, Kota Belud and the interiors.

Sixteen people were killed on Mount Kinabalu while two more remain officially missing.

Several hours after the incident, Najib, who was originally due to attend the highly-anticipated “Nothing2Hide” forum with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, took to Twitter to call for calm.

“Saya dimaklumkan gempa bumi berlaku tidak jauh dari Ranau. Saya harap semua selamat & tenang,” he said using his Twitter handle @Najib Razak, referring to a town on Sabah’s west coast.

(Translation: I was informed that an earthquake happened not far from Ranau. I hope all are safe and calm).

Lim, however, described the prime minister’s response to the disaster as “unbelievable”, noting that it was only issued some five hours after the incident.

“I don’t think Sabahans are mollified by Najib’s Facebook posting from Saudi Arabia last night that he was monitoring the aftermath of the Ranau/Kinabalu earthquake  and relief operations in Sabah,” he added.

In a visit to Kota Belud, Sabah, on May 10, Najib declared that he “owes Sabah”, a state he said he still regards as a Barisan Nasional (BN) fixed deposit.

“I will visit Sabah more often, especially in the rural areas. The people in the rural areas are really loyal to Umno and BN.

“Of course the BN government which they (rural folks) support will continue looking out for them,” he was quoted saying then by The Star Online.