KUCHING, March 23- A recent video accusing Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud of committing malpractice in managing the state’s land and forests is an obvious attempt to discredit the state in the eyes of the world, said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (PBB) Youth vice chief Pandi Suhaili(Pic).
He said that the non-governmental organisation (NGO) producing the video had a malicious intention to hurl slander towards Sarawak, its leaders and its people.
“Even before this (video came out), there had been numerous attempts by some western NGOs to weaken our leaders and the economy of our state,” he told Bernama.
He recalled some years back when a Europe-based NGO had claimed to become the champions of the Penan community in Sarawak but their actual intention was eventually to disrupt the timber industry, which was one of Sarawak’s major economic activities.
“In the end, it was the Sarawak government, which never claimed to be the champion, who took up realistic measures to help the Penans by coming up with facilities to raise their (the Penans) socio-economic standards,” he said. Meanwhile, a senior Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, Robert Laing Anyie, said the covert video attempted to incite hatred among people in Sarawak towards the state leaders.
He said the timing of such accusations to come out also came into questionas it emerged during when Malaysians were preparing for the 13th general election with the opposition desperately trying to find faults on the government. A private college lecturer, Karambir Singh, who also shared his thoughts, said the result of Sarawak of being late to develop during the earlier years of independence to become among the front runners in the country was enough to show the astounding leadership of Taib all this while.
“The development and progress in Sarawak now speaks for itself. If it is true that there is a wide-scale systematic scheme of bribery being committed, development will not take place at all in Sarawak,” he said.
BERNAMA
