KOTA KINABALU – Warisan has laid claim to the Sabah government’s launch of Lok Kawi Resort City, saying the multibillion project launched by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today had been the party’s initiative when it was in power.
The Warisan-led Sabah government had ruled Sabah for 26 months from the 14th general election in 2016 until its dissolution in July last year.
Warisan vice-president Datuk Junz Wong took a swipe at Muhyiddin today, claiming the ground-breaking ceremony of said project was already done by Warisan in 2019.
“Did you know that the Lok Kawi Resort City is just a rebranding of the Kota Kinabalu Resort City Project launched by Warisan?
“KK Resort City was an investment brought in by Warisan in May 2019.
“The RM7 billion gross development value of the project was the effort of former Sabah chief minister-cum-Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal,” he said.
The Tg Aru Assemblyman noted the opposition then had also criticised and slammed the project introduced by Warisan.
“The opposition then comprised Umno, PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) and STAR, and they said the project would not be able to attract investors and bring in billions of ringgit to Sabah.
“The opposition then had also accused Shafie for trying to sell Sabah, but now their intentions are obvious – the basis of them developing a modern and competitive Sabah is by executing a project originally introduced by Warisan,” he said.
The project is the result of a joint development agreement between Yayasan Sabah and Tegas Bangsa Sdn Bhd, which was projected to create a different kind of lifestyle in Kota Kinabalu.
Shafie had said that in a first, Yayasan Sabah had signed a joint development with the private sector to the tune of RM7 billion.
The project was expected to have little effect on the nearby Kg Meruntum population, and it was said that Yayasan Sabah would deal with those affected in the area.
The billion-ringgit project, which included hotels and a theme park, was among Yayasan Sabah’s initiatives to raise funds that would be channelled into to education for the people, among others. – The Vibes, March 22, 2021