EC tears down PBS banner critical of Guan Eng

SANDAKAN POLLS | Following complaints, the Election Commission (EC) today dismantled a controversial billboard which claimed Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng "had threatened not to help voters over the issue of insufficient parking lots at the Sandakan Hospital".

An EC enforcement team arrived at Batu 3, Jalan Utara, where the billboard was erected and initially tried to remove the wooden base of the structure.

They later settled on removing the entire printed banner sheet attached to the wooden structure.

The enforcement team's chief, Asarakal Martinis, told reporters that such banners were "seditious".

"We referred it to the EC headquarters in Putrajaya. After that, we were ordered to take down," he said.

The PBS billboard showed Lim purportedly stating he is unable to resolve a local hospital parking issue unless DAP "wins" in the coming Sandakan by-election.

It reproduced a screenshot from Astro's Mandarin Edition AEC Evening News, with the headline: "Insufficient parking lots in Sandakan hospital; Lim: If we win, then find me, if we lose, then there's nothing I can do. '(Lim) In big trouble, slammed again?" was written underneath in Hakka.

This is believed to be related to concerns raised over the lack of parking spaces at the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan.

A notice at the bottom of the billboard reads that it was printed by the PBS headquarters in Kota Kinabalu and that a permit was obtained from the EC.

PBS president Maximus Johnity Ongkili said he was unfazed over a police report allegedly lodged by DAP against the billboard.

Sabah DAP organising secretary Henry Shim, who had a lodged the police report, denied he had tried to silence the opposition.

Shim said the police report was to bring the matter to the authorities' attention for them to act accordingly.

According to an except of Lim's speech last Saturday, he pointed out that Putrajaya had approved two projects for the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan – elevator repairs costing RM1.63 million, as well as the construction of a new building, worth RM8 million.

Lim also noted the complaints about the lack of parking spaces at the hospital, but said the government could not approve too many items in one go.

However, he said, if Wong were to be elected, she could remind him to include a parking project in the next budget.

"Wong will remember. If you are elected, remember to do your work. If you are not elected, then it can't be helped," he had said.

Subsequently, Astro AEC Evening News reported the speech under the headline "Insufficient parking lot in Sandakan hospital; Lim: If we win, then find me, if we lose, then there's nothing I can do."

DAP's Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong had defended Lim, stating that Lim did not mean that he would only approve the parking project if DAP candidate Vivian Wong wins the Sandakan by-election.

"He meant that if Wong is not elected, then she wouldn't be able to give him a reminder.

"Lim did not mean that the hospital parking will not be approved," Chan said.

At a press conference today, Wong said Lim's remark had been taken out of context.

"They tried to project the image that we are threatening the voters but that is not the case.

"What Lim was trying to tell me is that I have to work hard for Sandakan. He was actually trying to tell me to work hard to win this seat and fight for what Sandakan needs," she said.

She stressed that he did not mean they would not approve the hospital parking project if she were to lose the election.

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