KUCHING: Special Assistant to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Deputy Minister Chong Chieng Jen, Abdul Aziz Isa, has hit back at Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang concerning a RM800,000 new hawker centre.
In a press statement, Aziz claimed that Lo has smeared his reputation by giving false statement and accused him of having asked why he (Lo) did not cancel a proposed multi-purpose hall costing RM1 million and a new hawker centre costing RM800,000 for Kpg Haji Baki.
“Does Lo have a reading problem?” he asked.
Aziz said as far as he could recall from his official statement dated May 4, he was merely advising Lo to allocate some fund through MPP for a new hawkers’ centre which falls within the local council’s jurisdiction.
He claimed that firstly, he asked Lo if it was the then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who pledged RM1 million for building the multi-purpose hall in 2016.
“If so, why didn’t the Barisan Nasional fulfill the promise?” he asked.
Secondly, since the promise was made in 2016 until the change of federal government in May 2018, he wanted to know why Lo did not ask Najib to expedite the two projects.
“My question was very simple. As the chairman of MPP, why didn’t Lo allocate some fund to build the facilities using money collected through the annual assessment rates?” he said.
