FORMER Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong should come clean on why he refused to debate him before Budget 2022 instead of hurling personal attacks.
“Wee should admit that his England trip is the real reason he rejected Oct 23 as the debate day and proposed Nov 2.
“Hence, there was no point for me to insist on Oct 23 for the debate when Wee was in England this past week and had to undergo COVID-19 quarantine on his return,” he said, in a statement.
Lim had been challenging Wee to a debate since Sept 30 after the latter denied claims that his decision to revoke cabotage policy exemption set by the previous Pakatan Harapan Government had nothing to with several tech giants’ decision to skip Malaysia in their plans to install undersea cables to boost Internet connectivity in the region, costing nearly RM15 bil.
This prompted 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.
Ever since then, the Bagan MP had been demanding Wee to debate him on live television on the matter, which the Ayer Hitam MP had agreed on Oct 18.
Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak also weighed in on the matter, calling Lim not to act heroic when the later refused to debate Wee on two occasions in the past.
On that note, Lim stressed that he had agreed to debate Wee on Nov 2, with his colleagues Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching and Bangi MP Dr Ong Kian Ming reaching out to the minister’s office two days ago for a response.
“Unfortunately, Wee continues to hurl baseless personal attacks against me, including displaying his ignorance of a meme posted on my Facebook page on a short chronology of events leading to the debate challenge.
“In fact, he even got assistance from Najib to make baseless personal attacks against me,” he lamented.
Licensing requirement for foreign vessels
Therefore, Lim urged Wee not to disappoint Najib by meeting Teo and Ong to iron out the logistics and details of the upcoming debate.
On related matter, the Bagan MP urged Wee to clarify whether the cabotage law covering submarine cable deployment and repairs was still intact; which means the best ship available for a cable repair could be a foreign ship.
“That means a Domestic Shipping Licence Exemption (DSLE) is required by the foreign vessel. Before this can be issued, local ship owners are asked for their consent through the Malaysia Ship Owners Association (MASA).
“In fact, shipowners who think they can handle the repair job can even block the issuance of the DSLE.
“This is the main contention by tech giants and industry players, where foreign repair vessels require consent from their local competitors three days before hand to get a DSLE,” Lim remarked. – Oct 24, 2021.
