Bung takes over works ministry in swap with Masidi
FMT NEWS
29 September 2020
KOTA KINABALU: New Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor has announced that state Barisan Nasional chief Bung Moktar Radin has been appointed as the works minister.
Bung will swap ministries with Sabah PPBM deputy chief Masidi Manjun, who will now take over the housing and local government ministry, the portfolio which Bung had initially been given.
Hajiji said he also needed Masidi to be his No. 2 in the finance ministry due to his experience in finance and economy.
“I need his help in the finance ministry especially to heal the economy in Sabah and to handle the Covid-19 pandemic,” he told reporters after clocking in for the first time at the state administrative building (PPNS) in Likas here today.
“There’s no problem over the swap. I just need Masidi to help me because of his vast experience in finance and the economy.”
Sources had earlier said that Bung was unhappy over the distribution of posts to Sabah BN, which had helped Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to secure 38 seats in last week’s election.
They claimed that Bung had left abruptly after the swearing-in of the new chief minister and three deputy chief ministers at Istana Negeri.
Bung was appointed one of the deputy chief ministers together with STAR president Jeffrey Kitingan and PBS vice-president Joachim Gunsalam.
Asked if there was any truth to rumours that Umno was unhappy with the Cabinet line-up, Hajiji said: “That’s not true … Umno is here, Bung is here, the issue did not arise.”
He said five more ministers and their deputies would be sworn in soon.
On the lack of Chinese representation in the Cabinet so far, he said they would look into it. “There are another five ministers who would be sworn in.”
FMT NEWS
29 September 2020
KOTA KINABALU: New Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor has announced that state Barisan Nasional chief Bung Moktar Radin has been appointed as the works minister.
Bung will swap ministries with Sabah PPBM deputy chief Masidi Manjun, who will now take over the housing and local government ministry, the portfolio which Bung had initially been given.
Hajiji said he also needed Masidi to be his No. 2 in the finance ministry due to his experience in finance and economy.
“I need his help in the finance ministry especially to heal the economy in Sabah and to handle the Covid-19 pandemic,” he told reporters after clocking in for the first time at the state administrative building (PPNS) in Likas here today.
“There’s no problem over the swap. I just need Masidi to help me because of his vast experience in finance and the economy.”
Sources had earlier said that Bung was unhappy over the distribution of posts to Sabah BN, which had helped Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) to secure 38 seats in last week’s election.
They claimed that Bung had left abruptly after the swearing-in of the new chief minister and three deputy chief ministers at Istana Negeri.
Bung was appointed one of the deputy chief ministers together with STAR president Jeffrey Kitingan and PBS vice-president Joachim Gunsalam.
Asked if there was any truth to rumours that Umno was unhappy with the Cabinet line-up, Hajiji said: “That’s not true … Umno is here, Bung is here, the issue did not arise.”
He said five more ministers and their deputies would be sworn in soon.
On the lack of Chinese representation in the Cabinet so far, he said they would look into it. “There are another five ministers who would be sworn in.”
Hajiji also said the GRS partners would discuss who would fill in the slots of the six nominated assemblymen.
Source: FMT NEWS
