Shafie to meet Lim on gas pipeline

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal will meet with federal Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng about the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP) project.

Shafie said, the State government is obviously concerned over the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP) project.

“I understand this project is handled by Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Finance Ministry. I will meet up with Lim Guan Eng soon to get further details and to see what the Federal government intends to do about the project.

“We need to study in detail what the project entails, such as how it would benefit the people and what it costs, among others,” Shafie said.

It was reported two days ago that the Finance Ministry (MOF) has discovered two gas pipeline projects totaling RM9.4 billion, where 88 percent of the amount has been drawn down but only 13 percent of the work completed.

The projects were handled by a MOF Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER).

Finance minister Lim said that he had been informed by Treasury officers that SSER is an offshoot of SRC International, a company under debt plagued 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

SSER is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MOF that was set up on May 19, 2016 with the specific intent to undertake the Multi-Product Pipeline (MPP) and the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP) projects. Both projects were approved by the cabinet on July 27, 2016.