The Sabah Progressive Party has accused the state Barisan Nasional (BN) leaderships of 'hiding' the real condition in Sabah from the federal leaders.
SAPP Youth Chief, Edward Dagul said the state leaders had failed to advise Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin, who was here over the weekend, of the suffering of hundreds of patients seeking treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
He said a visit would have shown Muhyiddin how patients were suffering from the poor condition of the hospital, which until today still hasn’t been improved.
“The people of Sabah are well aware that it is the Sabah BN's leadership which is hiding the truth from the Federal leaders on the actual sad situation here,” he said in a statement .
Dagul noted that Sabah BN Youth Secretary Mohamad Alamin has been promising allocations of billions of ringgit of federal funds for the wellbeing of Sabahans.
“The people of Sabah have heard these claims for so long and yet the truth of the matter remains that (despite these promises) the people of Sabah are still suffering.
He cited for example, the poverty rate in the state which is currently at 23 per cent compared to the national rate of 5.7 per cent.
He said the recent series of reports in the mass media of homeless youths from Sabah in Kuala Lumpur scrounging for meals from bins at fast food restaurants, has also reflected badly on the state.
"The reason why they leave for better pastures must be looked into. Statistically, Sabah still has the highest rate of unemployment in the country, at 5.7 per cent compared to the national unemployment rate of 3.3 percent.
"Kelantan, which is being governed by opposition for almost 20 years shows an unemployment rate of only 2.4 percent while in Penang it is 1.7 percent, Kuala Lumpur 2.8 percent and Sarawak 4 percent," he pointed out.
He said Muhyddin would have learned about the concerns of the kampung folk in Sabah such as the high price of daily essentials (between 10 to 20% more than in Peninsular Malaysia) if the state government had not orchestrated his visit.
He thus reiterated SAPP’s call to review and abolish the controversial Cabotage Policy which is contributing to the high cost of living in the state.
He argued that if the Federal government can subsidise the toll rates for motorists in Kuala Lumpur, there should be no problem to subsidise the prices of goods in Sabah.
"Is it too much for Malaysians in Sabah to ask for equality and to seek the same treatment assured to fellow Malaysians in the other states," he asked.
On the recent boast by Sabah BN Secretary Abdul Rahman Dahlan that foreigners are in awe of the state's rapid development in Sabah, Dagul said they (foreigners) would be shocked if they knew that despite its abundant resources, Sabah is still the poorest State in Malaysia.
courtesy of FreeMalaysiaToday
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