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Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) urged the State government to put a stop to the extension of the Federal Public Works Department (PWD) to Sabah to take over from the State Federal Development Department (JPPS).Its Secretary-General Datuk Richard Yong said the party learned from reliable sources that the Federal PWD was in the process of taking over the task of the to-be-disbanded JPPS by absorbing its personnel plus transferring additional staff to Sabah.

"If that is the case, it would defeat the purpose of closing the JPPS. The closure of JPPS is meant to transfer their duties to the State PWD to avoid duplication of works, streamline the procedures and to enhance the delivery system on development.

"The setting up of the Federal PWD will not only duplicate the works of State PWD, it will also cause confusion, increase red-tape, incur more public funds and make many state PWD staff redundant, therefore bringing about wastage of public funds," he said in a statement here Friday.

After all, Yong said the people had seen highways collapsing, faulty overhead bridges, landslides, burst pipes at Putrajaya, falling ceilings in schools among some of the federal projects.

"So the Federal PWD cannot claim to be better qualified than the State PWD in the handling of development in Sabah. The State PWD is well integrated with offices in all parts of the State and is efficient enough in the planning and implementation of the State development projects," he said.

SAPP had repeatedly called for the closure of JPPS and had asked for more State autonomy, he said, adding that such a move by the Federal government to replace JPPS with the Federal PWD would be a slap in the face of the State government and State BN, making a mockery of the calls by Sabah for JPPS to be closed.