EVEN DR M VISITS QUAKE-HIT SABAH BUT NOT NAJIB: He must be very busy - Mahathir waxes sarcasm

KUALA LUMPUR - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has suggested that Datuk Seri Najib Razak may be too busy with other affairs to visit Sabah following the earthquake there last week that claimed 16 lives.

News portal Malaysiakini, citing a report in Chinese daily Sin Chew Daily, quoted the former prime minister as saying during his visit to Kota Kinabalu yesterday that Najib has many matters to handle.

"He must be very busy (to visit Sabah), the prime minister has many things to attend to," the news portal wrote, quoting from the daily.

According to the portal, Sin Chew Daily also reported that Dr Mahathir was asked if he would meet with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin while the latter was in Sabah but the former prime minister said he had no plans to do so.

Earlier today, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang chided Najib for failing so far to visit the quake-hit areas of Sabah despite having declared just last month that he "owes Sabah".

Lim said Najib, who is currently on a working visit to Saudi Arabia, could have easily flown to Sabah to visit Ranau and Kinabalu Park before he departed on Saturday night.

To make amends, the federal DAP lawmaker suggested that the prime minister visits the affected areas and oversees rehabilitation efforts immediately upon his return from Saudi Arabia.

At around 7.15am on Friday, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck Sabah’s west coast, with reports stating that its epicentre was located 14km north of the Ranau — about two hours’ drive from state capital Kota Kinabalu.

State Meteorological Department director Abdul Malek Tussin said the earthquake depth was reported at 54km with tremors felt around Ranau, Tambunan, Tuaran, Kota Belud and the interiors.

Sixteen people were killed on Mount Kinabalu while two more remain officially missing.

Several hours after the incident, Najib, who was originally due to attend the highly-anticipated "Nothing2Hide" forum with Dr Mahathir, took to Twitter to call for calm.

“Saya dimaklumkan gempa bumi berlaku tidak jauh dari Ranau. Saya harap semua selamat & tenang,” he said using his Twitter handle @Najib Razak, referring to a town on Sabah’s west coast.

(Translation: I was informed that an earthquake happened not far from Ranau. I hope all are safe and calm). - Malay Mail