James, who just joined Parti Warisan Sabah, said as assemblyman and Sabah minister of special tasks, Teo should be carrying out his responsibilities to the people who gave him the mandate, he said in a statement today.
“The people are asking what he has been doing all these years? During the occasions that he does come to Tanjung Kapur, he doesn’t stay long enough to listen to the people,” he said.
“He holds a ministerial portfolio and yet cannot attend to the most basic of problems. Is he aware of what is happening in his area?
“No wonder the people are crying out for a change,” he alleged.
James said through Teo’s own admission, the villagers had no access to treated or running water even though they lived near the Milau Dam and water treatment plant.
James said another often lamented problem in Kudat was the escalating cost of living, made worse by the goods and services tax and lack of economic growth in the district.
He therefore welcomed Warisan’s proposal to build a deepwater port in Kudat and a railway system that would connect the northern district to the state capital of Kota Kinabalu.
James, 66, left politics after he quit SAPP 10 years ago.
Economic issues that are increasingly squeezing the life out of people, particularly the GST, have prompted him to make a comeback.
After several meetings with Warisan leaders and feedback from the ground, James decided to join the multiracial party, believing in its concept of change for “a better Sabah for the sake of all Sabahans”.
On Saturday night, he led a group of people from various political parties, mostly BN components, to join Warisan, the statement added.
One of them was former Kudat DAP chief Alexander Anthony, who also stood as an independent candidate in Pitas during the last general election.
Another was Teo’s former press secretary Jeffrey Ojinggal.
Tenders for long-awaited water supply projects
Just last month, Teo said the tender process for two long-awaited water supply projects in the northern Sabah district of Kudat would be completed by April or May.
Teo said he had met with the secretary-general of the federal rural and regional development ministry, Borhan Dolah.
“I was glad to be given confirmation that the designs (for the two projects) are being finalised,” Teo said.
“The tender process for both projects will be completed by April or early May this year, and work can start soon thereafter.
“Besides expressing my gratitude to the secretary-general, I also impressed upon him that these two projects must be given top priority as the villagers have been enduring a lack of treated water all these years.”
The two projects are part of the ministry’s efforts to improve water supply to rural areas.
One involves the extension of a water piping system to Kampung Limau-Limauan, which also covers Kampung Parapat Laut, Kampung Malaman and Kampung Milau.
The other is a project to supply water to Kampung Suangpai.
Tender for Kudat water supply projects ready by April or May