Problems in Pahang

Najib Tun Razak's homestate Pahang is riddled with issues and thus far he's avoided direct involvement.

COMMENT

The people of  Pahang have been crying out to their Barisan Nasional government and to their honourable representative Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

But are their pleas being heard? The answer is an emphatic ‘no’ from the ground.

Both Kuantan and Raub are in Pahang – Najib’s home state. Both are riddled with issues – Lynas rare earth plant in Kuantan and the contentious goldmine in Rabu.

But Najib pretends nothing is wrong, and he allows it to happen. Can a man who does not even care for his own home state, care for the country?

Najib has not dared go and meet the people in Kuantan. The question now is will Najib go to Raub? Will he meet with citizens who live next to the gold mine?

Or will he allow “interested” parties to twist the arms of the poor who live there into conceding that everything is alright?

I went to Raub and saw for myself what is happening there. Some of the citizens are so scared to speak.

Should we always wait to see and regret matters in hindsight.

Look at what’s happening in Batu Caves now. Remember too the Memali incident, and don’t forget the Bukit Merah rare earth project.

The BN government has not cared for its people.

At the height of the “Save Batu Caves” campaign in late 1970s, the Selangor BN government refused to budge from its decision to delay the ban on quarrying activities, knowing that it risked destroying the scared Hindu temple.

Remember Memali?  Dr Mahathir created it and blamed (his deputy) Musa (Hitam) for it. Memali was not in Johor, it was in Kedah, Mahathir’s homestate.

But Mahathir could not and refused to empathise with this group of rural Malays.

Also don’t forget Mahathir defended the Bukit Merah rare earth project knowing full well its effect.

My guess is the profits probably far outweighed the lives of the poor people of Bukit Merah.

Are these the work of people who care?

Toffee Rodrigo is a businessman who spends his free time writing to create awareness. He blogs at Toffee’sTurn.