Published on: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 |
SRI Tanjung Assemblyman Jimmy Wong claimed frequent power cuts due to load shedding in the East Coast were deliberate and meant "to punish the people there for objecting to the coal-fired power plant".
"I want to talk about the frequent electricity disruptions perhaps not only in Tawau but throughout the East Coast. I want to ask the Infrastructure Development Minister why this only happens in our place," he said.
"I was informed that the power shedding is done purposely to teach the people from Sandakan up to Tawau for objecting to the coal-fired power plant," he claimed.
"Is this true? If not why is the power supply in KK not like that?," he asked.
Participating in the motion of thanks, Wong urged the Government to quickly resolve the problem. On another note, he called on the Government to explain why it was difficult for people in Tawau to buy the "15 ST" subsidised rice.
He personally believed that sales of the subsidised rice would really help especially the needy in the rural areas.
(However) in Sabah, from Tawau to Kudat, it seems that people would be lucky if they could buy one or two bags of the rice in one or two months, he said.
In the end, the people have to buy the more-than-RM25 rice or risk finding their whole family dying due to starvation, he said, adding it was not only hard to find the subsidised rice in the rural areas but also in town.
"There are talks that the subsidised rice have been repackaged by the distributors and possibly the retailers to be sold at a higher price. There are also talks that the rice have been smuggled out to a neighbouring country," he said. "So I want the Government to explain why is it so difficult for the people to buy subsidised rice," he said.
Meanwhile, Wong urged the government to explain the reasons for the delay in processing of the work passes for foreign workers applied by their employers in the plantation sector at the Immigration Department in Tawau.
He said he received many complaints from employers facing hardship in doing their business.
"Worst, some of these foreign workers have already been registered but due to the processing delay, they were arrested and jailed up to three months by the court," he said.
The situation should not have happened because it was not the fault of the workers or employers but the Immigration Department, he said.
"I also want to know how many foreign work passes have been approved in the State and how many of those applied in Tawau have been approved and rejected since the programme (foreign workers registration) started?" he asked.
Wong also called on the Government to expedite the release of the annual allocation to the Chinese schools and not when the school term is about to end for the year.
"If the allocation is released late, it will be difficult for the schools to implement all the programmes that have been planned," he said.
