SAPP offers to expose 'Tham's many projects'

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party's (SAPP) former Deputy President Datuk Tham Nyip Shen is responsible for the so-called systematic ousting of good leaders from the party, claimed SAPP Supreme Council member, Datuk David Chong Ket Sui.

"At that time when you (Tham) were the deputy president of the party you were the king-maker, making all the decisions for the party by influencing President Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee, including chasing good candidates away," he said here Monday.

Chong said the leaders who Tham named as good leaders actually left SAPP because of him and that "more than 70 per cent of the party members at that time were unhappy with him (Tham)".

Chong who is SAPP Api-Api CLC chief said as far as Tham is concerned, the President did not sack him but "you are the one who sacked yourself because you did not want to follow SAPP (leave the BN) as you have so many projects from them".

"If you want, I can list down all the projects that you got for the public to know and that this is why you don't want to leave SAPP.

"Yong really trusted you and followed everything you said but in the end you bit the president...so it was not the president who sacked you but you yourself," he said.

Chong also shot down Tham's claim that SAPP had no choice but to field Yong as the candidate in the Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election because the party has no more good leaders in Sandakan.

"On the contrary, in Sandakan there are a lot of potential leaders...some of them are in the party and some are outside. There are a lot of lawyers and engineers.

On Tham's claim that Chong had tried to ask him to privatise the Kinabalu Park when he was the Deputy Chief Minister, Chong denied asking anything from Tham.

Chong said Tham had exaggerated the meeting between the two of them, which was actually requested by Tham's own man who wanted to open up a shop to sell Mt Kinabalu pictures in Kinabalu Park.

"His own man asked me for help go and see Tham because I was a supreme council member to discuss his proposal to sell pictures in Kinabalu Park and nothing about privatising the entire Park.

Chong said he would be able to reveal more, especially on the projects that Tham had obtained from the BN.
"I not only can give you the written evidence but I also can produce the person to point out that it is you who got all the projects," he said.

(Source : Daily Express, Tuesday, October 26, 2010)