By News Editor
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) today said the Warisan-led government’s decision to proceed with the RM3 billion Paper Dam project is proof that the party was incompetent to govern as it did not care for the people of Sabah.
PCS president Anifah Aman said that Warisan had shown its true colours by ignoring objections from Sabahans and NGOs.
“Sabahans must wake up. We have been lied to by the Warisan-led government on this issue.
“A government that does not listen to the people is not a government for the people and by the people. They must never be returned to power. It’s dangerous,” he said in a statement.
Papar Dam, formerly known as the Kaiduan Dam, was supposed to be constructed to end the acute water shortage in Sabah’s west coast by 2024. It will have the capacity of producing a billion litres a day.
Warisan had previously protested against the project when it was under the Barisan Nasional-led government.
However, caretaker Chief Minister Shafie Apdal recently said that the project will proceed to ensure the water problems faced by the district and surrounding areas, including the state capital, could be resolved.
He said although some communities were against the initiative, the state government must look at the overall needs of the people who require clean water supply at all times.
Anifah said a PCS-led government in comparison would explore more sustainable alternatives to the Papar Dam issue while remaining transparent.
“We believe there are alternatives and we’ll explore the best possible ones that would benefit communities and the environment in the long term. We won’t go for shortcuts.
“We are a government that listens and will always hear out the people first. We won’t simply bulldoze our way like Warisan Plus.
“We will listen to the experts and the communities who will see their traditional homelands under water if the dam project goes ahead,” he said.–FMT
