Kota Kinabalu: Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) said it is ironic for opposition Parti Warisan President Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal to try to link Chief Minister Datuk Seri
Hajiji Noor to the Sabah Watergate scandal just because he (Hajiji) happened to be a Minister in the Cabinet of predecessor Tan Sri Musa Aman.
Gagasan Rakyat Kiulu Deputy Chief George Teo said if that was the case, then Shafie being a Federal Minister can also be said to have been involved in the 1MDB scandal during the administration of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“No one dragged Shafie into the mud and just like Shafie has nothing to do with 1MDB, Hajiji had no part in the Sabah Watergate scandal largely blamed for the water supply situation in Sabah,” he said.
Our report on September 25, 2024.
He said it is also clear that Shafie is being delusional in not accepting part blame for the water woes that the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Plus administration of Hajiji is forced to deal with following the termination of six contracts during Warisan’s two-year reign.
“When Hajiji took over as Chief Minister in Sept 2020 after toppling the Warisan-led State Government, he had to clear up the mess left behind, including the State’s water woes.
“It is delusional for him to say all was fine during Warisan and that the water woes suddenly cropped up only after Hajiji took over,” he said.
In fact, Teo said, Hajiji was not making Warisan a scapegoat when he blamed Warisan for terminating contractors managing water treatment plants in 2018.
“It was easy to terminate these contractors by just compensating them but Warisan did not have the foresight to realise that the consequences will affect water consumers in the State and the salty tap water in Sandakan is a good example,” he said.
Shafie earlier said his administration cancelled the contracts of the six companies managing 58 water treatment plants because the deals were heavily lopsided.
“These contracts were a major part of Sabah’s notorious 'watergate' scandal, which unfolded under the Sabah Barisan Nasional government led by Tan Sri Musa Aman,” Shafie had said.
To this, Teo said: “Shafie is always painting a perfect picture of his administration. I can’t blame him as the State election is not far away and this is his last chance.
“The opposition is desperate. But the people are smart,” he said, adding that Warisan being the ruling party then would have easily won the 2020 State snap election if they were that good.
“Hajiji had to tell the truth on the water problems as the opposition has been attacking the State Government on the water issue in social media to tarnish the image of Hajiji and his administration.
“They ridicule the Sabah Maju Jaya slogan almost everyday. Hajiji mostly kept quiet to concentrate on solving issues affecting the people.”
“Warisan has not been kind since being voted out. We never heard of constructive criticisms from the opposition but only lies and slander,” he said, and advised people to be careful of their agenda.
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