Speaking to reporters, Tiong, who is a Justice of the Peace, said the opposition was desperate for issues, adding that they went to the extent of helping a man who earned over RM2,000 a month on the pretext they were helping a squatter.

Election leaflets distributed by the DAP hammered Tiong on the issue, claiming that the incumbent had failed to help the Jalan Sultan Iskandar squatters to get land for them to build their houses.

The leaflets show photographs of government officials dismantling the houses, and the DAP asks the people to vote for their candidate Lim Su Kien.

Tiong said the DAP should have done a research on the issue to fully understand the situation before blindly harping on the issue for votes.

“The squatters built their houses on the private land of an individual, and among them is a trailer driver who earns a comfortable income of over RM2,000.

“If the opposition wants to raise this issue, it must do it with facts and figures,” he said, adding that the opposition was merely making use of the people for its own political gain.

“I feel sad about this,” he said.

He said the government had been helping those who were genuinely poor, and Tiong cited the case of a woman longhouse chief from Sebuah, who had sought greener pasture in town by becoming a sweeper with the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA).

“She earns a few hundred ringgit a month, and she has successfully applied for a low-cost house. The government is helping people like her,” he added.

Tiong said he had spoken on the issue numerous times since last July, and on two instances, when he implicated the DAP having a part in fanning the sentiments of the people, he hit out at them, but, the DAP remained silent.

He was disappointed that the DAP had again ‘abused’ the issue in their hope to make it to parliament.

“Now, I want the DAP to answer me these – will they support a man who earns over RM2,000 a month to squat on another’s land? Will they encourage such a person to threaten the government into giving him land?

“I hope DAP’s Lim Su Kien will also answer this – if a person earns over RM2,000 a month squats on her land, will she allow him to stay on?” he asked.

Tiong said he was not taking side when voicing the Jalan Iskandar squatter issue.

“I just want to stress that we don’t encourage people to go against the law, and for those doing so, I will definitely not help them,” he said.