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The Sabah State Legislative Assembly Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal questioned the role of Sabah Maju Jaya Secretariat (SMJ) in helping the people in the State.

He wants the Minister of Finance to reveal during the establishment of the SMJ how much allocation has been channelled to the secretariat and what results have been obtained so far.

“We don’t want to invest but, we don’t care the effects and results are on Sabah and the job opportunities offered. Not only do we want slogans, we cannot live only with slogans.

“At the grassroots level, there are still many issues that are important to the people. So, I see that we should look into this matter,” he said.

Shafie who is the Senallang Assemblyman said this when debating the Supplementary Supply Bill which was tabled by the State Finance Minister at the Sabah State Assembly Conference.

The Warisan President said the State Government needs to be smart in financial management so that there is no leakage.

He said he found that many government leaders went for visits abroad when the financial situation is not so much and, thus, unnecessary expenses should be reduced.

According to Shafie, the Government does not have sufficient funds to overcome the water problem in the State until the students of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) staged a peaceful demonstration.

“Then we said they (UMS students) shouldn’t do that. We should feel them as these students have no water to drink, no water to shower and no water to go to the toilet. Why the need to blame and investigate them?

“The demonstration nowadays…there is an Act that has already been approved, which is the freedom to voice the rights of the people that can be done.

“However, there should be no unwanted incidents. We have passed it in Parliament but we should not take action because we need to listen to these children (UMS students),” he said.

Shafie said, since UMS is an educational institution under the Federation, the existing water problem should be resolved as UMS is located in the city not in Pitas or Nabawan.