KUCHING: Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has told Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Clarence Ting that he was not attempting to politicise matters under the local authorities.
Instead, he was just voicing out certain issues for local hawkers and the Sarawak Hawker Association in order to find solutions to their problems.
“As a fellow son of Sibu, I have the right to express my sincere opinions.
“At the same time, as the head of a political party, is Ting saying I have no right to use my voice for Sarawakians?” asked Tiong, who is also Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president on Sunday (Sept 13) in response to Ting’s recent remarks.
On Sept 11, Ting in a statement posted on his Facebook page, said that he was surprised a party president, who had members in the Market and Petty Traders (MPT) committee, had singled out one councillor for stating that security services at the central market were only for looking after SMC properties.
Ting made the statement in response to Tiong who had earlier ticked off SMC for its action in dealing with the theft of a vendor’s goods in the central market.
Tiong said if Ting’s reaction as chairman was to unjustifiably defend his councillors who failed to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities, he would only further alienate the people and deepen the negative public perception about the council.
“This attitude clearly shows their lack of sincerity in improving the quality of service among the councillors,” he said.
Tiong said it was difficult to understand why SMC had neglected to sit down and discuss workable ideas with the hawkers in the first place.
“Rather than ask the SMC to compensate, the hawkers had tried to negotiate with the council to improve security measures in the market. Why was there a need to humiliate the hawkers?
“The duty of city councillors is to serve the interests of the people, not heap blame on others and use the council as their private enterprise.
“Furthermore, as I was given to understand, security guard services are engaged and managed by the hawkers association with some subsidy by the SMC.
“If there is a lack of manpower, why not increase the subsidy to allow for more security staff?
“Both parties should have been able to discuss amicably to come to an agreement in order to help the community. This is not a difficult proposition,” he added.
