PSB leader urges ‘Sarawak First’ to manage pandemic

George Young Si-Ricord Jr

KUCHING (Jan 11): Sarawak should pick up the gauntlet and go ‘independent’ in handling and managing the Covid-19 pandemic and future pandemics and disasters, said Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Stakan pro tem chairman George Young Si Ricord Jr.

In a statement yesterday, he wondered what is stopping Sarawak from doing so, especially when Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg have been given a very strong mandate to act.

“Is it a case of lacking in funds and resources, or lacking in political will and courage?

“Whatever happened to ‘Sarawak First’? The answer lies in the hands of our own state government. It is time to translate talk into action and more importantly, ‘jaga Sarawak baik-baik’. That moment has arrived. Sarawak and Sarawakians await, in earnest,” he said.

Taking note of Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing’s recent criticism of Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah and the ministry’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, George said that there is no need to attack and target Dr Noor Hisham or take the ‘incompetent’ federal government to task as easy punching bags.

“For one, Tan Sri Noor Hisham is a civil servant and is bound to follow ‘guidelines and procedures’ – bureaucracy, in short.

“Secondly, why harp on the incompetent federal government? What else is there to say of this group of ‘birds of the same feather flocking together to make hay while the sun shines’ while they obviously can’t be bothered by what Sarawakians think or say, lest of all YB Tiong King Sing or GPS, who happen to be part of this federal government by way of association?” he said.

George pointed out that with the landslide victory secured during the state election, Tiong may well want to propose to the chief minister to regain Sarawak’s autonomy over public healthcare.

“Without an iota of doubt, what could be prevented could be prevented, if only we wield control and possess the power to do so. That’s what power is about – the authority and ability to get things done. Why not, for Sarawak? Time and again, GPS leaders have said that what happened over in the peninsula is least of Sarawak’s concerns.

“Moreover, doesn’t Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) have full autonomy to manage the pandemic as The Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) does not apply to Sarawak?” he questioned.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3nc7EbS
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