'Stop politicking over expired milk'

"Please lah, don’t tell me PAS' politics have stooped to a level surrounding one can of milk."

Those were the words of UMNO Baling division chief Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim upon learning of PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar's allegation against him that the former had apparently distributed expired goods to the people of Sungai Limau.

At a media conference at PAS’ campaign quarters in Sungai Limau this morning, Mahfuz claimed that a member of the public had gotten a can of expired condensed milk from among a bunch of essential goods apparently distributed by the Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery in Sungai Dedap on Monday.

The sole can of milk shown to reporters at the conference had an Oct 26, 2013 expiry date on it.

The Pokok Sena MP claimed that food hampers which included rice, wheat flour and sugar, were distributed to some 500 families in the area. He believed the hampers to be from Azeez’s camp as the latter’s face was on some of the product packaging.

Mahfuz said distributing expired goods to villagers showed the BN’s ignorance of the villagers’ health and wellbeing.

“To my knowledge, the food items brought by my machinery from Baling are for the consumption of my volunteers who are helping out the campaign machinery in Sungai Limau, it’s not meant for public consumption,” Azeez told Astro AWANI when contacted today.

He said he would not distribute goods that have his face on the packaging to the locals of Sungai Limau as it was not his area in the first place.

“I believe that Mahfuz is trying to tarnish my image after I raised the issue of the lack of action taken against him following his lie about his visit to Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom’s father’s house,” said Azeez.

“I myself checked with Jamil Khir’s father, he said there was no such thing as him performing supplication for a PAS win in the by-election when the PAS leaders visited his house in Ulu Sedaka recently,” he said.

He advised Mahfuz to quit stooping to so low a level, picking on things like a can of bad milk.

“This sort of politicking is not the standards of a vice-president. Don’t be too narrow-minded in your politics,” said Azeez.

Meanwhile, online news portal FZ.com reported today that the person who discovered the can of expired milk was the 19-year-old sister of Harakah graphic designer Khairul Hartimi. The report claimed that the hamper was initially given to a 58-year-old woman.

In the report, it stated that the hampers were handed out by a delegation of BN members, led by Abdul Azeez on Monday at 3.30pm.

Abdul Azeez, however, clarified that he was in Parliament the whole day yesterday.