Sabah DCM: I didn’t confirm Mazu project would be resumed

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew says the final word on the matter lies with Chief Minister Shafie Apdal.

Liew says the chief minister will make a decision after the ministry does a study on the project’s status. (Facebook pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew has clarified that she did not confirm the new state government has agreed to allow the Mazu (goddess of the sea) statue project is to be revived, saying the administration needs to understand its status first.

Liew, who is state tourism, culture and environment minister, said the final say on the matter lay with Chief Minister Shafie Apdal, who is Parti Warisan Sabah president.

“I think the exact words I used when asked about the Mazu project was: ‘Oh ya, no problem. We can look at it’. But the decision still goes back to the state government.

“The chief minister will make a decision after the ministry does a study on its status,” she said at a press conference after the state Cabinet meeting here today.

“We need to know what the status is (because) we don’t know anything,” she said, adding that it was shelved by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) state government.

Shafie, who was present, had earlier declined to comment on the issue, saying “there are other things we need to do first.”

At 33m (108ft) high, the proposed Mazu statue in Kudat was to be the world’s tallest when mooted in 2005. It was to be built on private land facing the sea at a cost of RM5 million.

Liew had last week said that the Mazu project, which was stopped under previous chief minister Musa Aman, may yet be revived in order to boost local tourism.

She said she needed to find out from officers in her ministry why a stop-work order was issued by the previous government.

“It is important for me to understand the status before bringing it up with the chief minister. Hopefully, we will resolve the problem that resulted in the cancellation of the project,” she had said.

In response, Sabah PAS had, on Saturday, urged the state to forget about any idea to revive the construction, saying the government should give priority to other critical developments.

Its youth chief Zulzaim Hilmee Abidin claimed that the project had received many objections, particularly from Muslim non-governmental organisations. -FMT