KOTA KINABALU – Former chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has questioned the purported RM320 million federal allocation to fund all the short-term fixes on Sabah’s water woes, which has now turned out to be a “soft loan” from Putrajaya.
Now in the opposition bloc, the Senallang assemblyman from Warisan had initially thought that the allocation was a grant.
He expressed surprise that the state has to use its own funds to cover the costs of some of the projects involved.
“Initially, (many had thought the fund was supposed to be a grant), but now it is a soft loan. We had also been informed the money had not arrived.
“So they (the state government) have to use state money. I don’t know whether they have money or not. But I am sure they have approved it (financing) now,” Shafie told reporters after the state assembly sitting here today.
Shafie’s statement came in view of Sabah Public Works Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya revealing that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has hinted the funds would be in the form of a soft loan at a very minimal cost, or possibly zero interest.
He had said this during the question-and-answer session at the sitting.
Shahelmey was referring to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor’s announcement of a RM320.25 million allocation following his meeting with Anwar on June 1.
During the assembly, Shahelmey also noted the state has given its assurance it will implement eight projects at a cost of RM185 million, which has now been approved by a federal-state technical committee.
The projects are part of the six short-term measures to fix the state’s water woes, which encompass 20 projects in districts including Kota Kinabalu, Tuaran, Putatan, Papar, Beaufort, Keningau, Tawau, Lahad Datu, and Sandakan.
In today’s state sitting, the Sabah assembly also approved additional expenditures of RM833,019,462.
A major portion of the allocation totalling RM149.36 million or 47.6% is going to the Sabah Works Ministry to fund ongoing projects.
“Out of this, RM65 million is allocated for financing the federal water supply project loan, whereas RM84.36 million originates from the state fund,” said Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun when tabling the supplementary bill.
On another development, Shafie also called for a thorough probe into the alleged profiteering of state water supply by private water transporters in the state.
This comes after Shahelmey had verified the presence of profiteering among private water transporters, with companies found inflating prices for their own gains. – The Vibes, August 8, 2023
