PETALING JAYA: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today urged the two deputy ministers involved in a controversy over Veveonah Mosibin to stop bullying the Sabahan student and called on them to give an update on the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan.
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He said Deputy Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri and Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin’s reluctance to give an update on the plan and instead “attack” Veveonah showed their arrogance.
“The two deputy ministers should stop their bullying of Veveonah and focus on upgrading the internet service connectivity in Sabah, especially in the 50 sites in 13 villages already approved by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government,” he said in a statement today.
“Zahidi blames DAP for politicising the issue when we have never even met Veveonah and only commented on the matter after Zahidi attacked the 18-year-old student in his speech in the Dewan Negara.
“If both deputy ministers want to continue looking for Veveonah’s faults, then DAP is willing for them to shift their targets to DAP in order for them to stop bullying Veveonah.”
Lim said the RM290 million project approved by PH covered 152 sites and was aimed at closing the digital gap between rural and urban areas.
“From the 152 sites, 50% or 33% of these are in Sabah, and these areas will enjoy internet speeds up to 30Mbps,” he said.
These sites included villages in Nabawan, Tenom, Keningau, Papar, Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Beluran, Tongod, Tuaran, Kudat, Kota Marudu and Pitas, where Veveonah’s village was.
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Veveonah was propelled into the limelight recently after having posted a video on her YouTube channel three months ago about spending 24 hours up a tree in the jungle to get the best internet connection so she could sit for her exams online.
Last week, Zahidi had accused Veveonah of being a YouTuber and faking her online exam to garner views for her video channel.
He later apologised to Vevenoah and said he had received “inaccurate information” on the matter.
Rahim yesterday reignited the issue in a now-deleted Facebook post, saying Veveonah lived in town and her family no longer had a house in the kampung where she claimed to have climbed a tree to sit for the exam.
He accused Veveonah of deliberately creating a drama to seek attention and publicity.
His post sparked an uproar among netizens, prompting Rahim to delete the post.
-FMT