By Christina Lian
Have decency to examine facts before making unjustified allegations, Chong told
KUCHING: State Pakatan Harapan chief Chong Chieng Jen has been taken to task for accusing the state government of sabotaging the federal government’s Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) aid initiative.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas yesterday lambasted Chong, saying the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Deputy Minister had made “malicious” and “unjustified” allegations against the state government “with bad intent” and a “hidden political agenda”.
“Being a deputy minister, it is a shame that he did not examine the facts and the real situation on the ground before throwing malicious allegations against the state government,” Uggah said in a press statement today.
“Chong’s unjustified allegations show that he is willing to say anything that is not a fact just for his own political interests,” the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) deputy president added.
Uggah said what Chong did not seem to know was that BSH was implemented differently from the former BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia), where the district offices were directly involved.
On the other hand, he said, BSH was handled by the Federal Treasury and its agencies, with minimal involvement of the district offices.
He said the weaknesses and shortcomings in the processing of BSH were not due to an instruction from the state government nor the reluctance nor the laziness of the district offices to assist simply because there was no such instruction.
“He should have the decency to check his facts before coming out with the unsubstantiated allegations,” stressed Uggah.
Unggah said Chong should be aware that on the contrary, the Chief Minister had issued instructions to the 11 Residents, 29 District Officers and seven District Offices to assist in the distribution of the federal treasury voucher and RM300 cash payments to recipients who did not have bank accounts.
He said this order was made through its letter dated 1 February 2019 No. Reference (38) JKM / up / 900-2 / 3 / 7BTW.
Uggah said this was proof that not only the state government had never instructed the District Office not to help with BSH but had in fact made sure that the cash aid would reach the deserving recipients.
“The assistance and cooperation of this District Office has greatly assisted BSH cash payments to rural recipients.
“The District Office is directed to provide the premises, the workforce required before and during the event, providing necessary facilities such as chairs and tables, notice boards and outsourcing programme to the prospective recipients,” Uggah explained.
According to Uggah, who is also Modernisation of Agriculture, Indigenous Lands and Regional Development Minister, BSH voucher distribution to those without bank accounts will be carried out from Feb 11 to March 7 at 31 locations statewide.
“To date, 21 locations have been successfully covered. The Federal Finance Office has confirmed that the District Office has provided the necessary assistance and cooperation to ensure the programme did not hit a snag,” he said.
Uggah went on to elaborate that in Sri Aman, seven District Office staff and five trainers assisted in the BSH programme on Feb 11 and 12. A District Office staff was also involved on Sunday (Feb 10) in preparatory work so that the programme on Feb 12 would run smoothly.
“Chong’s unfounded allegations reflect his ignorance (as to how the programme was run). Bau and Lundu districts were not classified as rural areas as such BSH 2019 welfare programme was not conducted in the two districts.
“It is clear that the Deputy Minister was not aware of how the state government has assisted in the programme.
“He should have the decency to examine the facts before coming out with unjustified allegations.
“I would strongly recommend that the federal deputy minister should understand the process and procedures of the BSH programme so he would not be misguided in the future,” added Uggah.
