Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang in Petaling
Jaya on
Tuesday, 9th December 2008:
Abdullah’s silence and indifference to
latest road carnage in express bus NSE crash in Tangkak which killed 10
and injured 14 in his last 100 days as PM in sharp and sad contrast to
his anger and outrage at Jalan Kuala Lipis-Merapoh three-vehicle
accident which killed 14 in his first hundred days
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi is in his last 100 days as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
His silence and indifference to the latest road carnage in the express
bus North-South Expressway (NSE) crash in Tangkak which killed 10 and
injured 14 on Sunday, taking place in his last 100 days as PM, is in
sharp and sad contrast to his anger and outrage at the Jalan Kuala
Lipis-Marapoh three-vehicle accident which killed 14 on 30th November
2003 during his first hundred days as PM.
This also signifies another major failure of Abdullah with regard to his
First-Hundred-Days-as-PM pledges– to end the road carnage on Malaysian
roads.
I can still remember Abdullah’s furious and emotional outbursts five
Novembers ago, when he expressed his frustration and upset at the number
of road fatalities recorded under Ops Sikap V, with 25 road deaths on
the first day of Hari Raya and the death toll which rose to 104 in the
first six days of Ops Sikap V.
Malaysians were told in Abdullah’s First 100 Days, that the road carnage
which claimed over 200 lives in every15-day Ops Sikap operation before a
national festivity was unacceptable and that new rules and regulations
would be introduced to end the road carnage in the country.
Five years down the road, the authorities have claimed as a “resounding
success” the latest Ops Sikap VII for this year’s Hari Raya holidays
covering the 15-day period from Sept. 24 to Oct. 8 although the
fatalities numbered 208, 17 fewer deaths compared to last year’s Hari
Raya Aidilfitri festivities – which also marked the disappearance of the
road carnage problem from the radar screen of the departing Prime
Minister and his Cabinet!
Will Datuk Seri Najib Razak take on board the serious menace of road
carnage in his first 100 days when he takes over as Prime Minister in
March and ensure that this time, there would be effective Prime
Ministerial leadership and concrete results to break the back of the
grave problem of road carnage not only during national holidays but
all-year-round?
*
Lim
Kit Siang, DAP
Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor
http://dapmalaysia.org