I would like to remind the district officer of Penampang District Office and in his capacity as the chairperson of the Penampang District Council about the actual status of a ‘mosque construction project’ rumoured to be taking place at Kampung Sedomon - next to the Penampang by-pass heading towards Kota Kinabalu and in an area which is located at the heart of the predominantly Christian district of Penampang.

The district officer, William Sampil, has yet (to date) to reply to the query of the people of Penampang which was highlighted in my official letter dated Aug 1, 2013 and my press statement dated Sept 28, 2013.

And as an officer of the government which had been given the full responsibility to approve any development project taking place in this district, his deafening silence over the mosque issue has caused uneasiness and more suspicion within the community of Penampang.

Why is it so hard for him to give the answer so as to clear all the confusion and uneasiness. Since he and the Penampang District Council have omitted myself and both state assemblypersons from Moyog and Kapayan from taking part or being an observer in the District Planning or of the Penampang District Council’s decision-making process, he is then answerable over this issue.

If the district officer thinks that he can keep quiet with the hope that the issue will be slowly be forgotten by the public, he is wrong because this culture of ‘silence by the authorities’ is exactly what we want to change in Penampang. We have been advised to be diplomatic and I believe a letter expecting a simple honest reply would have sufficed. After all, they like us are public servants who are answerable to our respective task.

This is what we want to do in Penampang. We want to change the non-accountability and non-transparency system within the local government authorities and other governmental agencies in Penampang.

I again reiterate my stand on the controversy is no different on the stand made by Chief Minister Musa Aman when he was compelled at the request of the public to re-look on the Mazu statue in the district of Kudat.

The Mazu statue was at its construction stage and the government was compelled to intervene after it was alleged that the construction was too sensitive as the community nearby were Muslims. Hence we understand that the Mazu statue project has since been shelved and an alternative site had been proposed by the government.

So and in all fairness, I don’t see any difference between the Mazu statue issue with the mosque issue at the Penampang by-pass.

DARELL LEIKING is the member of Parliament for Penampang.