Hasriani
KOTA KINABALU: The villagers at Pulau Gaya have criticised Kota Kinabalu member of parliament Chan Foong Hin for blaming the island for the cause of Sabah’s sudden spike in Covid-19 cases.
Hasriani Abdul Hassim, a local leader of Pulau Gaya, said that Chan’s accusation reported by Malaysiakini on July 30 reeks of racism and prejudice.
“‘YB Chan Foong Hin’s statement is racist and prejudice against the Muslim Bumiputera villagers at Pulau Gaya. It is not supported by any report of scientific data from the Health Ministry (KKM) or Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM),” she said on Sunday.
Hasriani stated four points in her statement.
“Firstly, the incident of villagers running away happened on the 6th of July.”
“But immediately the next day, PDRM in a statement clarified that only five out of the 71 people ran to KK mainland.
“All five who ran away have been detained, while the other 66 are actually still on the island.
“Maybe Chan is not aware that there are a few villages in Pulau Gaya. He assumed that there is only one village in Pulau Gaya, therefore anyone who ran away must be on mainland,” said Hasriani.
She said Chan was wrong as the entire island was also subsequently placed under lockdown.
So, regardless which village the 66 ran to, they have already been contained.
“So how can DAP’s Chan blame Pulau Gaya for the entire Sabah’s cases?”
Hasriani who is also well known among locals, added before the villagers ran away, Kota Kinabalu was already recording hundreds of cases everyday.
“Secondly, Kota Kinabalu has been recording a hundred to two hundred cases everyday, before the runaway incident happened.
“KK was not recording zero cases. KK has been recording new clusters or new cases everyday.
“So how is this Pulau Gaya’s fault?”
She elaborated that KKM’s statistics also shows that many new cases and clusters have been recorded in the interior areas lately.
“Thirdly, the interior areas of Sabah are recording many new clusters and cases lately.
“On July 17, Jambatan Liawan cluster was recorded in Keningau.
“On July 23, Kampung Mananam cluster was recorded in Tongod.
“On July 25, two clusters namely Gerbang Kauran cluster and Kampung Sogo-sogo cluster were recorded in Keningau and Tongod.
“On July 28, three clusters namely Bariawa Laut cluster, Menawoh Baitah cluster and Bayangan cluster were recorded in Keningau.
“On July 30, Jalan Gunsapau cluster was recorded in Ranau.
“All these clusters on top of the mountain and in the valleys of the interior areas of Sabah, also Pulau Gaya’s fault?”
Hasriani added her fourth and final point.
“Fourthly, more than ten thousand cases are recorded in Peninsular Malaysia for the past month.
“Factory clusters, factory clusters and housing estate clusters.”
“Are these also Pulau Gaya’s fault?”
Hasriani concluded that the DAP leader was childish and simplistic to single out Pulau Gaya as the cause of Sabah’s Covid-19 cases.
“The reasons behind the spike are many.
“It could be a gathering, it could be close contacts between family, relatives, friends and so forth.
“So it is childish and simplistic for DAP to single out Pulau Gaya.
“Why didn’t DAP blame dine-ins at coffee shops or restaurants, KTVs, night clubs or pubs, supermarkets, factories and shopping malls?”
“Why is Pulau Gaya singled out, when the reality is this island is on its own and detached from mainland?”
“If people on water villages are such an insult in the eyes of DAP, don’t come and beg for votes during the election season,” said Hasriani.