Villagers shocked over PM’s power, water bills

Sabahans in Kota Belud were in disbelief when told of
the prime minister's exorbitant household bills.

By Luke Rintod  of FMT
KOTA BELUD: Villagers here were somewhat aghast when told that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s household electricity bill was RM160,000 and water bill RM66,000 a month.

Kota Belud, which is less than an hour away from Kota Kinabalu, has many homes without clean water and electricity.

Perhaps more irking is the fact that Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) had just raised the electricity tariff in the state.

Even before the latest controversial tariff hike, electricity was more expensive here in Sabah than in the peninsula.

PKR vice-president Tian Chua, who told a shocked group here about Najib’s colossal bills, said: “It’s an insult to the people especially the ordinary people in Sabah and Sarawak.

“Najib’s monthly electricity bill runs into RM160,000, while his water is RM66,000 per month.

“Where is the credibility of the prime minister in calling the people to change their lifestyle in this hard time?

“His bills are outrageous, it is taxpayers’ money. They pay these bills.”

He told the audience in Tempasuk, near here recently, that these figures were revealed in Parliament but were unknown to residents in Sabah and Sarawak.

“The people of Sabah can imagine for themselves how much money is being spent to sustain the lifestyles of top Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders.

“All of them are being paid by the people and they a run into hundreds, perhaps thousands, ” he said.

Tian Chua, who was here to launch the Tempasuk PKR division, said PKR wanted to put a stop to this kind of wastage of public money, and hence it wanted a mandate from the people at the coming general election.

Cheating people

He said the elitist BN would continue to give Sabahans raw deals.

He added that in many instances, BN refused to give in to any of Sabah’s requests and often tried to force the people to accept what they don’t want.

He cited the proposed Tambatuon Dam in Tambatuon here where the BN wanted to “take money” from the people.

He said the BN appeared to “give” the dam to the people although the plan was rejected by Tambatuon.

“What the people here want is supply of clean water and stable electricity. Why can’t the BN give this if they have the money?

“Instead they spend people’s money at their whims and fancies without listening to the people’s views,” he said.

He also expressed shock that the majority of the kampungs here, which was close to Kota Kinabalu, did not have clean water.

Tian Chua said the botched coal-powered electricity plant in Sinakut, Lahad Datu, was another example of an expensive mistake by the scheming BN.

He said the compensation of more than RM70 million to consultants for the cancelled project could have been better spent on other more needy projects to alleviate the problems of many Sabah people, especially in Lahad Datu and in the east coast.