KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud challenged DAP Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen yesterday to repeat his remarks on Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) outside the state assembly so that he can take legal action.
“I have nothing to do with the decision-making in CMS. Unless you can prove that, you should shut up.
Taib: ‘I will sue you if you can’t prove what you said’“As a leader, I am very clear how I perform my duty. I never exercise any discretion to create favours for my children’s company,” he said when interrupting Chong who was debating the 2007 state budget at the Sarawak state assembly.
CMS is a listed company controlled by Taib’s family.
Chong had said that CMS was doing so well in its business but not Sarawak, and that because of this, state leaders should take the blame.
Taib then told Chong to repeat his remarks outside the assembly so that he would not be protected under assembly privileges.
“I will sue you if you can’t prove what you said,” he told Chong.
The chief minister said CMS did not own even 1% of the country’s wealth and that it should be treated like any other company.
Speaker Datuk Asfia Awang Naser had earlier stopped Chong from mentioning the interests Taib’s wife had in CMS “because your motive is improper and you are directly implicating” the chief minister.
When the session resumed after a 30-minute break, Chong said that an Australian newspaper had suggested in a news report that, because of its good connections, CMS had secured a RM1.3bil contract to maintain roads in the state. Following that, Sarawak awarded two other road contracts worth RM78.8mil to CMS.
State Second Finance Minister Datuk Wong Soon Koh came to the defence of the chief minister, saying that Taib had always declared his interests, and that the state Cabinet’s decisions in awarding contracts to CMS were above board.
Chong urged the state to offer more contractors the chance to get jobs.
Star 24-11-2006
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