KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — On the ground, he is being called “zalim” (cruel) and some harsher names. And despite announcing a raft of measures to cut government spending by RM2 billion, the angst and anger against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for cutting subsidies is real.
Nobody knows how poisonous this sentiment can be better than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He was called “zalim”, “firaun” and a bunch of unprintable names in 1998 after he sacked Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from government for abuse of power and alleged sodomy.
Such was the ferocity of anger against Dr Mahathir that some people used to switch off the television when he was featured on a news segment. Others set up websites dedicated to dismantling his legacy. His critics cranked up the level of anger every week by alleging that he and his ministers stashed away millions in bank accounts in Singapore, or by accusing him of spending government’s funds on vanity projects.
Today, it was Dr Mahathir’s turn to stoke the fire of anger against Abdullah. Posting on his blog, he accused Abdullah of colluding with Singapore and scuttling the plan to build a crooked bridge to the republic.
He said that the work on the bridge was stopped so “that Dato Seri Abdullah’s Government could offer to sell 1 billion cubic metres of sand, and overflight rights for Singapore military aircraft over Johor Baru if Singapore agreed to a straight bridge.’’
“Someone stood to make a lot of money selling 50 million cubic metres of sand per year for 20 years to Singapore for land reclamation. This was a very attractive offer as the reclaimed land can sell for 3,000-5,000 Singapore dollars (about RM6,000-RM10,000) per square metre. The Singapore Government stood to make an enormous amount of money selling this land. They therefore agreed to the straight bridge.”
That dredging sand from the seabed would cause erosion of the coast, destruction of fish breeding grounds and deprive Johor fishermen of their livelihood were not of concern to the Government of Dato Seri Abdullah.
“Fortunately the Johor people misbehaved. They objected to selling sand and overflights.
“Abdullah, frustrated that his scheme was blocked, then punished the Johor people by cancelling the bridge project altogether. No straight bridge, no curve bridge either.
“The result is that more than RM1 billion has been wasted building the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities, foundation and work on a new railway station, pilings and preliminary works on the road linking the CIQ to the bridge and compensation to the contractors because of the cancellation of the projects.
“Clearly Dato Seri Abdullah has wasted public money. All because he was angry with the Johor people for not enabling 1 billion cubic metres of sand to be sold to Singapore and the profits thereof,” he said.
This account of Dr Mahathir’s runs counter to information contained in documents declassified and released to the public when the former prime minister first made such an allegation in 2006.
Included in the documents released was correspondence between Dr Mahathir and two of Singapore’s former prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.
The documents showed that the issue of Singapore using Malaysian airspace was mooted by Dr Mahathir as a trade off and as part of package of unresolved issues with the republic in negotiations between 1998 and 2002. Also, it was Singapore that put the issue of the sale of sand on the table during a meeting between Abdullah and Goh in 2005.
Abdullah said that the plan to build the half-bridge unilaterally across the Straits of Johor could not be continued because of legal obligations, in particular the Wayleave Agreements and the Separation Agreement 1965.
When Dr Mahathir levelled these allegations against Abdullah in 2006, it did not get much traction among Malaysians. There was some anger among Johoreans but this died down after a few weeks.
But these are different times. Malaysians are peeved with having to pay 40 per cent more for petrol and are anticipating a spike in the price of goods and services in the country. There is also a sense that the previous subsidy levels could have been sustained if the government had spent wisely over the years and made a serious effort in tackling corruption and profligacy.
Also, the anti-Singapore fervour in Johor is higher today than it was two years ago. The reason: the decision by the International Court of Justice to award Pedra Branca to Singapore.
(Malaysian Insider)
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