PARTI Rakyat Sarawak is “studying the possibility” of taking legal action against Sarawak’s largest English daily, The Borneo Post, over the “spinning” of party president’s James Masing’s call to use the state’s reserve fund, said the party’s acting deputy president, Joseph Salang, today.

“We are consulting our legal team,” Salang said this afternoon.

The report, under the heading “Masing suggests Sarawak’s reserves of RM31 billion be used before the next state election”, was interpreted by many of its readers to say that the deputy chief minister had called on the state government to totally deplete the reserve to prevent it from being used by the opposition, should it win the 2021 state election.

Masing came under heavy flak, not only from the opposition, but also his cabinet colleagues.

Bandar Kuching MP Kelvin Yii said Masing’s suggestion “proved his ignorance of the democratic system and was an insult to the role of a government in managing the country’s resources for the good of the people”.

Yii’s Pakatan Harapan colleague, PKR Sarawak chairman Baru Bian, said the suggestion showed that Masing was “a politician first and the deputy chief minister second”.

Masing’s cabinet colleague, Second Finance Minister Wong Soon Koh, said that the Sarawak government had always been very mindful in spending its reserves, as it had to ensure that it was used wisely to maximise the intended outcome.

Wong had called on Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg to reject Masing’s suggestion.

In an editorial today with the heading, “Has the media misquoted Masing?”, the Borneo Post said it stood by its story, and provided what it said was an audio recording of part of Masing’s address at a dinner where he was the guest-of-honour.

The paper stated in the editorial that it was “to let discerning readers have their say”.

Salang, who was also at the dinner, explained that what Masing meant was that the state government should judiciously use the reserve to speed up the provisions of basic infrastructure in the state’s rural areas.

He said Masing never suggested that the government totally squander the money.

“If we (GPS) don’t use it, somebody else will,” Salang said, in reference to PH.

He said in the case of a shortfall in federal funding now that PH had taken over the federal government, the state government could make up the shortfall with funds from the reserve.

PRS chief Wilfred Nissom said in a statement that the paper’s reporter took “only a part of what Masing said about spending Sarawak reserves” without reporting the reasons why Masing asked the state to dip in the reserve and how it should be used.

“Masing did not suggest we squander the reserves just to prevent the huge state reserves from falling into the hands of the opposition, if it should defeat GPS at the next state election.

“He is not ignorant of the legal limits on the spending state reserves,” Nissom said.

A post on social media, however, suggested the paper had been used by a local company to discredit Masing for refusing to award it a RM5 billion contract for the state’s coastal road project.

Masing refused to confirm or deny the post, but said there were “interested parties” who wanted to be awarded the project without going through the tender process.

“They want it as a directly negotiated turnkey project.”

Masing, who is also the state’s Infrastructure Development and Transportation Minister, said the company had eyed the project since it was mooted by his predecessor.

Masing took over the ministry in a reshuffle in 2016.

“There’s a lot of money there. RM5 billion. The party had been interested in the project for a long time, even when Manyin was still there,” he said referring to his predecessor, Michael Manyin.

“You could kill your mother for that.”

Masing said he could not give what the company wanted, as the chief minister was “not too keen on the idea”.

The chief minister’s proposal was that it would be tendered in packages “so more people can take part in the project”.

“I am in the same opinion with the CM. It will make this project transparent.”