Shafie making wild claims: Yahya
Published on: Thursday, August 04, 2016
Keningau: Umno Sabah Secretary Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin on Wednesday challenged former Umno Vice President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal's claims on his (Shafie's) contributions to the party, saying they are far from the truth."If our friend from Semporna claims he was among the earliest Umno fighters, he is wrong. He was still working (in the civil service) when we entered the party. ADVERTISEMENT "If he said he was the one who started, it is also not true. It was only when Umno Sabah became the State Government that he entered politics," he said.Umno spread its wings to Sabah after the PBS pullout from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in 1990. It formed the State Government following the crossover of assemblymen after the 1994 State election.Speaking after launching the Rural Development Co-operative's shiitake farming project along Km 54 of the Kimanis-Keningau Highway, here, Yahya also denied that Shafie was the first Umno Sabah Youth leader, saying it was Datuk Railey Jeffrey.ADVERTISEMENT Yahya said he is forced to set the record straight on Shafie following these misleading claims. Shafie had claimed that the party suspended him on June 24 in spite of the struggles and contributions he made for the party. He announced leaving the party in a gathering held at his constituency, Semporna.
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Yahya who is also State Agriculture and Food Industries Minister questioned what was Shafie's contribution to Sabah when he headed the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, which received billions of Ringgit in allocation. He cited the 4km long undersea power cable to supply power for those at Pulau Gaya, said to cost around RM42 million. Yahya said, being the Umno division leader there, he was not aware that such project had been announced and when the local residents asked him when they would be able to enjoy power supply, "I had no choice but to tell them that I'm not sure." He suggested that Shafie must have used the allocations for those whom he favoured. "Is this the type of Sabah leader he is?" he asked. According to Yahya, Shafie also had no respect for the State Umno liaison chief Datuk Seri Musa Aman as he never attended any of the Sabah Umno meetings chaired by Musa.He said Shafie also never consulted Musa on whether there was anything he could do to help the State through his Federal Ministry's allocation. Yahya urged the public to not get easily influenced by the stories and claims made through the social media, saying "if lies are being said repeatedly, some people might believe it's true."For that matter, he said it is the government which had to rectify and set the record straight. Assistant Minister Datuk Sairin Karno earlier pointed out that although Shafie was a friend, when it comes to politics his (Sairin's) loyalty still remains with the party, and leaders namely Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. The Liawan Assemblyman also denied claims that a massive riot will happen in Kemabong, Tenom organised by the opposition, saying it was actually a football tournament being organised by supporters of those in the opposition. Sairin said Shafie should have maintained his cool and stayed on with Umno, saying he was only suspended and not expelled. Meanwhile, Gerakan Akar Umno (GAUM) Chairman Zulkarnain Mahdar said Shafie should feel ashamed to step foot in Sabah's rural areas in his roadshows in view of the conditions in these places like unrepaired roads.He claimed Shafie did not make full use of his power to improve basic amenities in Tenom when he held the post in the Federal Cabinet since 2009 until July last year."I would like to ask Shafie…when he was the Minister, how many times did he meet the Tenom District Officer or its development officer to discuss and identify village roads that need to be repaired as well as those needing clean water and power supply?"Not only did he not arrange direct meetings with the concerned officers, the Ministry funding was not directly coordinated to all district offices in Sabah until it caused many roads still in poor condition," he said, in a statement.Zulkarnain who is also Pakatan NGO Pro BN President said Shafie's former Ministry received Federal funding of almost RM4 billion a year and yet village roads, and supply of water and electricity are not fully available in the rural and interior areas of Sabah."In 2004, the Ministry received annual total funding of RM4.2 billion while in 2015, RM4.5 billion was channelled to the Ministry."If only Shafie had allotted 30 per cent of the annual funding to Sabah, I am optimistic that almost all roads in the rural and interior areas in the State could be repaired and enjoyed by all the people."Instead, Shafie did not act fairly to the people of Sabah when he is from Sabah," he said.On a claim that a total of 2,000 Umno members in Tenom have left the party, recently and by the hundreds in Membakut and Tenom as they were not satisfied with the decision of the Umno Supreme Council taken on Umno senior leaders including Shafie, Zulkarnain said he challenged Shafie and its machinery to show and list out the card members of those Umno members who quit the party as evidence.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"Even those attending a meet with KDM Malaysia only numbered 800 people and these people were not all from Tenom but from Keningau, Nabawan and Sook who are mostly opposition supporters and members."There is no way that the claim is true when the attendance is less than 1,000 people," he said.