LANGKAWI – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took aim at the civil service here, saying it is slow in approving projects, such as the sightseeing tower.
“They have come to hinder rather than contribute to development progress. The level of corruption is also unbearable.
“There was this senior officer who uttered that he made someone (a businessman) a millionaire. That means money is on the minds of public servants. This is not right.”
In a session with the media recently, he expressed his frustration at the time it takes for projects to get off the ground, while the tourism industry here needs better consolidation.
He said the faster the projects get off the ground, the better the country will be economically, especially during a pandemic.
He also spoke about the potential in Langkawi, saying tourist arrivals pre-Covid-19 “surprised” him as more than three million were recorded in 2019.
“This shows the island’s potential to be a leading leisure destination.”
He said there are two eco-tourism propositions that he hopes to see flourishing here – one of which is the blossoming of seasonal Tacoma flowers, similar to the sakura cherry blossoms in Japan, and the other being lobster cultivation in padi fields for export to China.
Meanwhile, he took a swipe at the country’s current political landscape, saying that Malaysia may lag economically as investors tend to shy away from countries with political instabilities. – The Vibes, March 31, 2021
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