MIRI – Sarawak PKR will form teams to investigate RM10.35 billion worth of failed projects throughout the state, deputy chairman and lawyer Abun Sui said.
He told The Vibes these projects have yet to materialise and the party believes elements of corruption were involved.
“We are forming committees at the grassroot levels, especially in rural areas, to gather information on all those failed projects that had been promised by the state government to people in longhouses and villages.
“There are many projects, both big and small, that had been announced by politicians but they never materialised,” Abun said.
The RM10.35 billion figure comes from a disclosure by the Public Works Department (PWD), he said, which must be thoroughly probed.
The teams will be formed in affected constituencies and will focus on identifying those responsible and how much was paid to them despite the projects remaining incomplete.
“The public deserves to know the truth.
“How much of this money has already been paid out to these contractors who did not get these jobs done properly?
“Are these contractors linked to any state politicians?” queried Abun, who is a Miri-based native-rights lawyer.
On August 23, the PWD revealed in Kuching that it had identified 95 crucial projects worth RM10.357 billion throughout Sarawak that have been critically delayed or abandoned.
These “sick projects” include important infrastructure like government clinics, schools, teachers’ quarters, village roads and bridges, as well as four packages of the Pan Borneo Highway.
The department in a press statement said the figures were as of the end of June this year.
The contractors for 18 of these delayed projects have been terminated and are being replaced with new contractors, the PWD added.
It also hoped to rescue and complete 47 of these sick projects by the end of the year.
Among the crucial projects delayed was the Long Busang Clinic, it added.
On July 12, The Vibes had reported that the Long Busang Clinic was a crucial government project that was launched eight years ago for the thousands of natives living upstream of the mega Bakun Dam in central Sarawak.
The site of the proposed clinic at the Long Busang settlement located some five hours upstream of the dam is now covered by tall grass and bushes, with skeletal pillars and roofing beams worn out by the weather.
Abun had told The Vibes that the abandoned clinic project located deep inside Belaga district was launched in 2015 and given a RM3 million allocation from the federal Health Ministry, while the PWD had tasked a local Sarawak contractor with its construction.
“The construction was abruptly abandoned after pillars and beams were erected,” he said.
“There was no explanation from the PWD or its contractor on why the project was stopped.” – The Vibes, September 3, 2022
