KOTA KINABALU: Pressing infrastructure needs in and around Kudat must be met before proceeding with the controversial Mazu statue project, says Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) Sabah.
The Islamic body's spokesman Mohd Nur Hilmie Milus said that to get to this Muslim-majority district from Kota Kinabalu, travellers would have to pass through Tuaran, Kota Belud and Kota Marudu.
“Ironically, these areas are considered poor.
"People living in these areas do not enjoy good and comfortable basic infrastructure,” he said in a statement on Wednesday (April 12).
He cited a lack of clean and sustained water supply, poor road conditions, unstable power supply and a shortage of business amenities to help improve socio-economic conditions among the district's problems.
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“So it is best that the government focus on... providing the people with these facilities instead of investing in a statue that holds some form of religious symbolism, even if the main purpose is to attract tourists and generate tourism income,” he added.
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had instructed state representatives to focus more on lifting the lives of the poor and hardcore poor in the country.
Therefore, he added, efforts towards this end should be doubled and made the main agenda of every state government.
“Before Sabah decides to proceed with this controversial project which has been a subject of debate for the past 15 years, we suggest that it prioritise economic development first,” Hilmie said.
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Railways, a port and gas pipelines to Kudat should be given serious consideration before thinking about building the Mazu statue, he added.
“When visitors come to Sabah, they have to travel on roads that are bumpy and full of potholes.
"They have to stay in homestays that have frequent water disruptions.
"Situations like this would affect the tourism industry," Mohd Nur Hilmie added.
The project was proposed by former chief minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat in early 2005 and approved by the Kudat Town Board the following year.
However, the project was called off in 2007 after then chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman halted its construction.
In 2018, Datuk Christina Liew raised the possibility of reviving the project when she was state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister in the Warisan Plus government.
Talk of the project started up again recently, with Chong raising the topic during a recent meeting with Liew.
He said he had also met Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor on the matter.
