KUCHING, Feb 10 — Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) vice-president Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah today told Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chong Chieng Jen to stop making empty promises aimed at getting the support of the people for the impending state election.
“This time he promised the villagers of Kampung Selangan Batu in Pending, near here, if PH wins in the coming state election, land titles would be given to them,” he said.
He said Chong is just dangling a carrot in front of the villagers, who squat on state land, before the next state election is called.
“He knows that people are gullible. The people sometimes forget about his past promises. Now he makes another promise,” he told reporters after receiving a courtesy call from a delegation from The Association For International Sports For All (TAFISA) at his office.
Karim, who is also the state tourism, arts and culture minister and youth and sports minister, was commenting on Chong’s promise to give land titles to the villagers yesterday.
According to Chong, when he was the Bandar Kuching MP, he applied to the Kuching South City Council in 2007 to upgrade the road leading to Kampung Selangan Batu, but was rejected because the villagers were squatting on state land.
Chong, who is also the deputy domestic trade and consumer affairs minister, had said since land matters in Sarawak were under the purview of the state government, there was nothing the PH federal government could do.
Karim asked the deputy minister what had happened to the promises he made inside and outside the Sarawak State Assembly before the 2018 parliamentary election.
“He even told the chief minister (Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg) in the state assembly sitting that if Pakatan formed the federal government, there would be no need (for the state government) to beg for funds or jump to Pakatan.
“He also promised that Pakatan would increase the oil and gas royalty from 5 per cent to 20 per cent to Sarawak and to return 50 per cent of the total taxes collected in Sarawak to the state government,” Karim said.
“Sometimes, politicians will promise the sky. But I am a politician myself, but then, I will not go to such an extent as to promise the sky,” he said.
