PKR plans monitoring panel for Batang Ai

By Joe Tawie

PKR has agreed to form a committee to monitor the implementation of projects promised during the recent Batang Ai by-election.

The defeated candidate, PKR’s Jawah Gerang, said that in the next few days they will sit down to find out what are the projects that have been promised.

The committee comprising Dominique Ng, state assemblyman for Padungan, Jawah and Nicholas Bawin, chairman of the PKR Lubok Antu Division and some local people would be visiting the constituency soon to find out what were the projects that the Barisan Nasional had promised.

“I know that some of the projects like the Lemanak Road have been promised at least three times already and until today the projects are yet to be implemented,” said Jawah, adding that the projects were promised during his five terms as the Lubok Antu member of parliament.
During the campaign for the by-election, close to RM200 million worth of projects were promised for the people of Batang Ai.

These projects include:

A multi-million ringgit hospital

RM2 million for upgrading and repairing of longhouses

RM6 million for electrification programme

RM2.5 million for telecommunication tower and community broadband centre

RM40.2 million for universal service provision (USP) projects

RM62 million for tar-sealing the seven-kilometre Lemanak Road, the survey design of Lemanak-Engkari road and the tar-sealing of 10km ring roads in Batang Ai.

Gov’t promises land titles

The BN government has also promised to settle unpaid claims as a result of the construction of

the Batang Ai hydro-electric dam and to issue land titles to landowners.

Jawah who secured 2,053 votes lost to the BN candidate Malcolm Mussen Lamoh by a majority of 1854 votes.

Yesterday, Ng together with Bawin and Jawah visited Batang Ai and held a meeting with the people, assuring them that PKR would not abandon them.

“We tell them, we will not abandon them. In fact we tell them to be ready for the next round of state election. We must prepare early,” said Ng said when contacted today.

He said that the group also went to Engkilili which forms the other state constituency of the Lubok Antu parliamentary constituency, where they met the local PKR members and advised them to be ready for the next state election.

Meanwhile, Ng said that PKR would not retract its claims that that 14 boxes had been tampered with in the recently-concluded Batang Ai by-election, adding that the party was now conducting investigations into the matter.

The findings would be submitted to PKR headquarters in Kuala Lumpur by April 15.

Money politics and ‘tampered’ ballot boxes

PKR did badly in these areas from where the 14 ballot boxes came and what puzzled them was

that these areas were known to be the opposition’s stronghold.
The 14 ballot boxes were either flown or carried by boats from the polling centres to the tallying centre.

PKR had one week before polling written to the Election Commission to have the votes counted at the polling centres, but their request was rejected.

Their request to accompany the boxes in the helicopters or in the boats was also rejected by the commission.

“After our findings have been submitted to the headquarters, then we will know what course of action is to be taken,” said Ng.

In Sibu, Sarawak DAP chairman Richard Wong alleged money politics was involved in the Batang Ai by-election and wanted the Election Commission to look into it.

He alleged that the BN government had spent up to RM70 million in upgrading the road projects and other infrastructures during the campaigning period and alleged that each family was given some cash in the name of development fund.

He said that in other countries a lot of what the BN government and politicians had done during the campaign would have been illegal under their election laws.

Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/102181