KOTA MARUDU, Feb 26 – Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili(pic) has described the Pakatan Rakyat manifesto as mundane and far-fetched and should be rejected by the people. He said most of the offerings were already being done by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“The Pakatan Rakyat manifesto is nothing creative and downright irresponsible. For example, the proposed one million foreign workers to be sent back will cripple the oil palm and construction and service industries and half
of the national current GDP (gross domestic product),” he told Bernama, today.
Ongkili, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, was asked to comment on the announcement of the Pakatan manifesto in Shah Alam yesterday. In unveiling details of the manifesto, Parti Keadilan Rakyat strategy director Rafizi Ramli was quoted, among others, as saying that Pakatan was committed to defending the rights of Sabah and Sarawak within the framework of the Federal Constitution. Ongkili said the scrapping of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) study loans would deny half of the Sabah and Sarawak students who were now studying in public and private higher learning insitutions, of funding.
“They cannot afford to enter university or college without PTPTN,” he said. On the abolition of tolls, he said the move would affect the government’s finances, leaving Sabah and Sarawak with substandard roads while the peninsula enjoys 10-lane north-south and east-west super highways.
“We don’t need that type of national government. It’s a perfect recipe for rejection by the people,” he said.
BERNAMA
