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The DAP Youth chief said a statement by the office of the Sarawak Premier yesterday, which noted that the project is funded by a private company as part of its CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative, poses “more questions than answers”.
In the statement, the premier’s office said the flagpole is a CSR project in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of Sarawak being a party to the formation of Malaysia.
The premier’s office was responding to an earlier statement from Yii questioning the project and the use of RM30 million, which he said could be better spent to help the people of Sarawak.
“The state government cannot just push the matter as a CSR and wash their hands off it,” Yii said.
“It is imperative that the government is transparent and continues to be held accountable on this matter to ensure it is not merely an afterthought due to the backlash.
“More importantly, the state government should ensure that no public funds are being used for this project and there are no conflicts of interest in the matter.”
He called for the state government to not only reveal the identity of the private entity that was willing to spend RM30 million on a flagpole, but also its past, present and potential future dealings with the company.
Yii, who is also Sarawak DAP deputy chief, said this was important to ensure that the endeavour is not used as a form of inducement or payback for any current or future contracts from the state government.
The 99m proposed flagpole is set to be 4m higher than the nation’s current tallest flagpole at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur.
Yii said it was also important to have a breakdown of the project’s cost.
He added that in comparison, the tallest flagpole in the world, located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, stands at 171m and was built at a cost of about US$5 million, or RM21 million at the current exchange rate.
“It also opens up the question of who initiated the idea of such a project? If it was really initiated by a private entity, then why did the Sarawak government approve such a project when there are many other more important priorities,” he said.
“Knowing the real needs of Sarawakians, the government could have easily advised the ‘generous’ company to better use such funds to invest in public infrastructure, health, education, or to feed our poor in the community.
“That is why I continue to hold on to the belief that this clearly is a case of misplaced priority and a misplaced obsession of optics over substance”.
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