The statement by the Premier office to now claim that it is a project is funded by the private sector as a CSR (corporate social responsibility) contribution opens up more questions than answers and they cannot just push the matter to CSR and wash their hands off the matter.
It is thus imperative that the government is transparent and continue to be held accountable on this matter to ensure it is not merely an after-thought due to the backlash, and more importantly to ensure that really no public funds are being used for this project nor are there conflict of interest in the matter.
This should include not just revealing the identity of the private entity who is willing to spend so much money on a flagpole, but also reveal past, present and even possible future dealings with the Sarawak government to ensure there is no conflict of interest or that such an endeavour is not used as a form of inducement for further or future dealings.
On top of that it is important to have a clear breakdown of the cost of the project, which is said to be 99metres reportedly costing up to RM 30million.
In comparison, the tallest flagpole in the world which is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to stands at 171 metres actually cost less and was built at cost of SAR18.7million which is equilavent to about USD4.9 million.(~RM21million)
It also opens up the question on who initiated the idea of such a project? If really it was initiated by the private entity, then why did the Sarawak Government approved such a project when there are many other more important priorities which RM30 million could go a long way to address and directly benefit general Sarawakians.
Knowing the real needs of Sarawakians the government could have easily advised the “generous” company to better use such funds to invest in public infrastructure, or even in our health or education, or to feed our poor in the community.
That is why I continue to hold on to the believe that this clearly is a case of misplaced priority and a misplaced “obsession of optics over substance”.