RM60m water revenue in past three months
Published on: Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Penampang: The new state government managed to collect RM60 million in revenue from water consumers in the state in the past three months alone.State Finance Assistant Minister Kenny Chua said this had never been accomplished before by the previous administration."It shows we are serious in putting things right because water is revenue for the state," he said after witnessing the swearing in of the Taman Penampang and Suria Residents Association, Sunday.
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He said apart from making sure revenue collections from water resource are done, the government also has taken actions to put the plug on wastages of funds mainly due to lopsided deals."We lost millions because of the lopsided deals. One of them involves the fixing of pipes which was outsourced to another party but under the new government's watch, we're managing it on our own. We've also revamped the Water Department headed by (Infrastructure Development Minister) Datuk Peter Anthony. So far, we've managed to save a lot of money already," he said.He assured that the government means business when it comes to prudent spending."I can assure the people that the state government won't spend unnecessarily. Every sen counts. It's called good management and after all, we're held accountable for the money that we spend. We also want to correct past mistakes," he added.
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Chua reiterated that the state government's first budget of RM4.16 billion with an expected surplus of RM105.32 million is all focused on meeting the needs of the people."Given the way the government is managing its funds responsibly and with the people's interest in mind, I don't see any reason why our reserves will not increase over the years," he said.
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He also assured that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is determined to get more investors to invest in the state to generate the economy and create more job opportunities for the people.Also present during the ceremony were Rural Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick, Assistant Law and Native Affairs Minister Jannie Lasimbang and Upko secretary-general Datuk Donald Mojuntin.Like Chua, Ewon is also a member in the neighborhood community.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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