By THOMAS THAM
PENAMPANG: A locally based community movement has described Nazri Aziz as incompetent to be a Tourism minister to concentrate on his ‘bigger samseng’ (thug) behaviour and called on the prime minister to drop him from the Cabinet.
Pergerakkan Pemantau Sukarelawan Penampang (PANTAU Penampang) said Nazri should not be free to demean and belittle anyone and at the same time make uncalled for allegations against the Sarawak Minister whom he (Nazri) branded as a ‘samseng’.
“In fact I don’t think Nazri is a ‘samseng’; I think he is more a rude and an uncivilized small- time street thug wannabe,” Jo Nandu, PANTAU Penampang chairman said in a statement Monday.
Wading into the Tourism Tax spat between Nazri and Sarawak Tourism Minister (Karim Abdul Rahman Hamzah) Nandu said the federal minister only projected himself as a big bully.
“This is exactly the very so-called ‘ketuanan Melayu’ (Malay supremacy) culture that Sabahans and Sarawakians abhor but which has never been understood in depth by UMNO leaders,” he added.
“This has in fact gone beyond the tourism taxation act issue; this now enters a phase whereby a Malay minister had openly ridiculed and humiliated a minister from Sarawak, and this is unacceptable to all the people in Borneo.”
The activist said that as a senior minister, Nazri should be setting a good example on leadership instead of belittling others who are in disagreement to his proposals.
“His arrogance in calling Karim, who had been elected by Sarawakians and appointed by his chief minister to the state Cabinet, it is his job to protect the interests of all Sarawakians and to uphold the aspirations of his constituents,” Nandu pointed out.
“Calling Karim ‘setahun jagung’ (greenhorn) is insulting, shocking and most disappointing coming from a senior minister who has shown that he is a bully to us in Borneo.”
Nandu also said that while Nazri can defend the Tourism Taxation Act by giving numerous justifications or excuses, the fact remains that he (Nazri) is incompetent to be a Tourism Minister.
“Thus, it is imperative that Najib Razak attend to this issue immediately and reprimand Nazri, if not remove him from the Federal Cabinet altogether,” he said.
On Nazri’s assertion that there are very few Five Star hotels in Sabah and Sarawak and the bulk being in Malaya, Nandu said this only affirms how little development and interest that Sabah / Sarawak has had under the BN Government.
PANTAU Penampang is a loose community movement comprising of activists and volunteers based in Penampang.
