TRANSPORT Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong has agreed to debate with former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Nov 2 with regard to the controversial cabotage policy reinstatement.
“I have never backed away from such challenges. You want a debate, you’re on. The producer from TV3 had also called my office and proposed Nov 2 for it, which I immediately agreed.
“As I have said before, let’s have the debate any time after Budget 2022 speech,” he said in a Facebook post.
The duo had been at loggerheads with each other even since Wee revoked the cabotage policy exemption signed by the previous Pakatan Harapan Government.
During the Minister’s Question Time on Sept 30, Wee denied claims that the revocation had prompted several tech giants to skip Malaysia in their plans to install undersea cables to boost Internet connectivity in the region.
This prompted a livid Lim to argue that the minister was lying, as Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa had issued a written reply to Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim stating that Malaysia was not listed to join the Apricot Subsea Cable System Project by Google and Facebook owing to the cabotage policy issue.
Pakatan leaders had since proposed to refer Wee and Annuar to the rights and privileges committee to determine who had erred in their answers.
Stop the slander
The cabotage policy exemption had previously allowed foreign vessels to perform undersea repair jobs in Malaysian waters and Lim had argued that the revocation would cost Malaysia billions in foreign investment.
On a related matter, Wee urged Lim to not concoct stories that he had created a Whatsapp group chat between Dewan Rakyat Speaker, the Bagan MP and himself to discuss about the debate.
“I urge Lim to remain calm and stop slandering me. It’s so classless and unprofessional. Besides, I have already agreed to the debate.
“Let’s just wait for TV3 to come back on the date. If the date given is not convenient to Lim, we can change it but let’s do it after Budget 2022 speech,” the Ayer Hitam MP concluded. – Oct 18, 2021
