KUCHING, Jan 10: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s ‘unprofessional behaviour’ in handling state-federal matters reflects his hostility towards the state government as well as insensitivity towards Sarawak’s finances, development and needs as a whole.
Highlighting this, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) information chief Datuk Idris Buang pointed out that many Sarawakians have expressed strong displeasure and abhorrence towards the manner in which Lim had ‘berated’ the Sarawak government over tourism tax revenue sharing which would normally be an ordinary and mundane issue.
“Lim had nonetheless created ‘a storm in a tea cup’ when he disagreed with our state Tourism Minister (Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah)’s query over non-payment of Sarawak’s share of the tourism tax, by also (upbraiding) the state government very condescendingly with insulting remarks calling the latter “menipu” (cheating) and “buat fitnah” (making sinful lies) concerning the status of its federal loan,” he said in a statement today.
“I would have thought that as the nation’s number one and most powerful finance man, he (Lim) should have shown adroitness and be composed instead of (resorting to) impulsive outbursts and politically-charged rebuke,” he added.
Lim’s ‘unprofessional’ way of responding to the query at hand, Idris observed, may create an atmosphere of discomfort or even disharmony between Sarawak and Putrajaya which would not augur well for the nation.
Idris also emphasised that the inappropriate usage of strong but inaccurate words or terms by the minister had left many Sarawakians with a ‘rancid taste in the mouth’.
He opined that it was a rude awakening for Sarawak as to how much worse its fate could be if Democratic Action Party (DAP) or Pakatan Harapan (PH) were to rule Sarawak.
Idris said that Lim, being in a senior position, ought to realise that whatever he says or does would have many far reaching implications, ramifications and impact on the economic and political situation of the nation.
“His position is very much looked up to by all and sundry particularly by investors from all over as a kind of ‘human barometer or indicator’ because even by his giving a frown and not a smile, one can (sense) something not so positive about our economy and so on and there would be reactions in the market, so to speak,” he added. — DayakDaily
