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Reiteration of call for Samy Vellu‘s resignation as Works Minister unless
he is prepared to immediately make amends and be responsible and
accountable on the MRR2 flyover closure scandal – explaining the causes of
the cracks and the immediate action being taken to restore its safe use in
the shortest possible time Speech - at the MRR2 Kepong flyover closure protest gathering by Lim Kit Siang (Kepong, Sunday): Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is a very angry man. Yesterday, he called on me to resign first as DAP National Chairman in response to my earlier call for his resignation as Works Minister. He said that I should be ashamed and take responsibility for the DAP’s 2004 general election defeats resulting in less parliamentary seats.
Firstly, let me put Samy Vellu right on the facts. In the 2004 general election, DAP increased our parliamentary representation from 10 to 12 seats and although this is not a great increase, it is quite significant in a bleak general election scenario which saw an unprecedented debacle suffered by other Opposition parties, whether PAS or Parti Keadilan Nasional - leaving the DAP as the only significant parliamentary force to perform the important check-and-balance role against an over-powerful government.
Secondly, I did not demand for Samy Vellu’s Cabinet resignation because of the RM238 million Middle Ring Road Two (MRR2) Kepong flyover cracks two years after completion when it should be able to last for 50 years without any structural defects, as the causes for the cracks are not known, but because of his threat to stop MRR2 repairs and prolong the sufferings of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the flyover closure by over three months if the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) intervenes in the scandal.
It was such a threat, which was pure political gangsterism and not responsible and accountable Ministerial conduct, which prompted nation-wide outrage and my call for his resignation as Works Minister. Up to now, Samy Vellu has not retracted or apologized for such a threat.
It is two weeks since the closure of the MRR2 Kepong flyover on August 8, but nothing has been done to immediately repair or rectify the flyover cracks so that the elevated highway could safely be re-opened for use in the shortest possible time. Furthermore, the Malaysian public are still completely in the dark as to what are the causes for the flyover cracks – whether design flaw, construction negligence or supervision failure.
Unless and until Samy Vellu is prepared to immediately make amends and be responsible and accountable to the public on the MRR2 flyover closure scandal, explaining the causes of the flyover cracks, the actions taken to repair or rectify them, accompanied by immediate action to restore its safe use in the shortest possible time, I reiterate my call for Samy Vellu’s resignation as Works Minister. |