KUALA LUMPUR – Warisan lawmaker Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman wants Putrajaya to come clean on its move to award the RM1.13 billion Sabah-Sarawak link road project via direct negotiation.
The Sepanggar MP said he obtained information that the direct negotiation tender was given to a non-Bumiputera firm, Samling Resources Sdn Bhd, under the Jana Wibawa Bumiputera economic agenda.
“Based on my own research, the Companies Commission of Malaysia showed that Samling Resources is a joint venture between Sam Ling Bhd and Ekovest Bhd, and Sam Ling is not a Bumiputera-owned firm,” said Azis, adding that direct negotiation contracts under the Jana Wibawa initiative should have gone to a Bumiputera company.
He said Samling Resources has not shown proof that it is owned by Bumiputera individuals.
Azis said Kim Loong Corporation – which was listed in the Malaysian bourse last week – announced that it has been awarded a project worth RM780 million by Samling Resources to build the Sabah-Sarawak link road.
“My question is, if Samling Resources was given the project for RM1.13 billion and then awarded the same project to Kim Loong worth RM780 million, now where has the (rest of the) RM350 million gone to?
“I think the Finance Ministry needs to come out with an explanation as the sum is quite big,” he told a press conference in Parliament today.
On another note, Azis said all projects approved during the emergency did not involve the Health Ministry.
He said of the 46 projects worth RM7.75 billion approved during that period, not a single one had been in Sabah.
The projects are as follows:
1. Kelantan – nine projects worth RM1.63 billion;
2. Perak – three projects worth RM378 million;
3. Terengganu – four projects worth RM584.5 million;
4. Sarawak – three projects worth RM1.4 billion;
5. Pahang – five projects worth RM1.58 billion;
6. Negri Sembilan – five projects worth RM566.1 million;
7. Kedah – two projects worth RM162.4 million;
8. Johor – seven projects worth RM879 million;
9. Penang – two projects worth RM307.7 million;
10. Selangor – one project worth RM122.5 million;
11. Various (Thailand) – one project worth RM59 million; and
12. Perlis – one project worth RM52.5 million.
“This makes me wonder whether the declaration of the emergency rule was indeed done as a stepping stone to approve non-health-related projects.
“This also shows what I have been saying, that Putrajaya has been unfair to Sabah when it comes to allocating funds to develop the state. Sabah got zero projects,” he said.
Azis reiterated the unfair treatment shown by Putrajaya, saying the state had to buy its own test kits and protective gear when Covid-19 cases were surging last year. Sabah also had the lowest vaccination rate.
“Sadly, when all of this was happening, not even one project under direct negotiation had gone to Sabah,” he said. – The Vibes, November 25, 2021
