Press Statement by Michael Kong:
The GPS must stop the political discrimination and stop manipulating the State allocation for helping the poor at this time of Covid-19 pandemic.
Yesterday, the whistleblower Sarawak Report has exposed yet another scandal of the GPS government which is the manipulation of the RM200,000.00 Covid-19 humanitarian allocation for every DUN.
This State Government’s allocation of RM200,000 for each DUN is supposed to be fund to help the poor in every DUN area and to supply essential food items to them. The allocation is supposed to be managed by the Pusat Khidmat and the elected representatives of each DUN area.
However, according to the expose by Sarawak Report, the RM200,000-allocation for the Opposition-held DUN seats were NOT to be managed by the Opposition ADUN. Instead,the fund was allocated to one or two particular GPS ADUNs for them to use. For the Kuching area, there were 4 DUN seats held by the Opposition, namely Padungan, Pending, Kota Sentosa and Batu Lintang. All the allocation was given to and managed by Sim Kui Hian.
By virtue of this discriminatory practice, Sim Kui Hian has at his disposal, allocation for each and every of the 4 DUN areas plus his Batu Kawah area, a total of RM1,000,000.
Publicly, the GPS ministers have been calling for all to work together to fight this covid-19 pandemic. Yet, secretly behind the back, they are withholding the fund to help the poor from the Opposition ADUNs. Even when it comes to a matter touching on life and death and humanitarian assistance, the GPS is still politicking.
It is utter shame on the GPS who do not practice what they preach. It is the typical case of the thief who is crying thief.
Not only is the GPS politicking on the people’s suffering, Dr Sim, who is monopolising the control of all 5 DUN areas’ allocation, is now under quarantine which, renders him ineffective in carrying out the food distribution job.
It is already a handful for one ADUN to handle one DUN area, to ensure that the food distribution to the poor at this time of pandemic will be carried out smoothly, quickly and widely. And the ADUN has to be on the ground to make sure the work is carried out efficiently, not just sub-contracting out the job, allowing the contractors a free hand to take a lucrative cut.
For Sim Kui Hian, he is taking charge of the fund for all the 5 areas while he is quarantined at this most critical time.
No wonder that the distribution of food by the GPS in these 5 areas is so slow and ineffective despite the RM1,000,000 at their disposal. While GPS is playing its political game, the people are suffering and hungry.
