'Ministry bypassed State Govt'
Published on: Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Assistant Finance Minister Datuk Ramlee Marahaban (pic) said the State Government was not involved in the process of securing projects funded via grants from the Federal Rural and Regional Development Ministry. He said some of the water projects in the State were implemented through a fund from the Federal Government which was channelled straight to the ministry via the National Key Result Areas (NKRA) for Rural Water Supply Projects (RWSP)."Under the RWSP, the ministry acts as the Allocation Controller and Implementing Agency...all financial matters including the allocation control and payment process are implemented at the ministry level," he said in answering a question from Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin (Harapan Rakyat-Klias) at the State Legislative Assembly sitting, Tuesday.
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Ramlee cited Tongod, Pulau Sebatik near Tawau, and Pulau Gaya near Semporna, where pipelines were installed but there was no water, while in Pulau Banggi near Kudat, old pipelines were dug up and reused. He said he had also seen roads ending up in jungles and added in jest "it was probably for the use of monkeys." The source of funds implicated in the Sabah Water Department graft scandal became a hot topic in the Assembly with a barrage of questions from both the ruling and opposition camps, among them Pantai Manis Assemblyman Datuk Seri Rahim Ismail, Klias Assemblyman Datuk Lajim Ukin, Banggi Assemblyman Datuk Abdul Mijul Unaini and Likas Assemblyman Junz Wong. Graft busters had last month uncovered over RM300 million in the accounts of several officers from the department, including its Director and Deputy believed to be kickbacks raised from government allocation to improve water supply projects in rural areas.
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The Assembly heard that the funds in question were from the Federal Rural and Regional Development Ministry which was once headed by a Sabahan Minister. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman cum State Finance, who was forced to address the issue, felt it was perhaps due to his "differences of opinions" with the said minister that the State Government was never in the know of the projects carried out by the ministry in Sabah.
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He did not name the former minister but it was apparent he was referring to Semporna Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, who was dropped as Rural and Regional Development Minister in June this year.Musa said he had a approached the minister many times on the matter before but was turned down. Although it was common practice for any Federal Minister to brief the State Government on their programmes, he said the Ministry concerned dealt directly with State agencies, such as the Water Department, when carrying out projects in Sabah. "It's probably his plot to humiliate me as the Chief Minister…it doesn't matter. I'll still be the Chief Minister today and also tomorrow. But what got me infuriated is when billions of ringgit allocated by the Federal Government to benefit the people of Sabah did not reach the target groups and people kept complaining about having no water, electricity, as well as roads in their villages," he said. He said this was among reasons the Ministry's projects in Sabah, costing millions did not benefit the rural communities, or projects of less importance were carried out first. Musa recalled visiting Long Pasia and congratulating the residents for having received a RM10 million federal-funded solar-power panel to light up their homes. "The village chief looked at me and asked what solar power? There was a letter and there was already approval for the funding. But where is the solar panel?" asked Musa, adding this was the result of "contractor-driven" projects. Musa said it was unlikely the source of funds was the State Government as the annual allocation made for maintenance and repairs to the State Water Department was only around RM50 million to RM70 million a year. Aside from this the payments to contractors are tightly monitored by the State Finance Ministry, he said. He pointed out since the Rural and Regional Development Ministry took over the development of rural areas from Federal Finance Officers in Sabah in 2010, billions of Ringgit have been pumped in for the development of the State. Under the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011 – 2015) alone, the Ministry had executed by itself a total of 192 rural water supply projects at a cost of RM2,001,080,000 but only RM1,994,110,000 was registered as the true expenditure. Musa admitted while there were probably leakages in the present procedures, power abuse was also likely as the Water Department had never informed the State Government of the Federal Ministry projects. Towards this end he said all water supply projects have to get the endorsement of the State Water Department to process the payment of contractors on completed projects. "The question is why did the department certify and endorse payments for projects that it should have known were not completed," he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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