Yong: Where is musical fountain’s Schedule of Rates and Bill of Quantities?
KUCHING: The Sarawak government's failure to disclose the Schedule of Rates and Bill of Quantities pertaining to the RM31- million Darul Hana Musical Fountain project has been described as ‘unusual'.
Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong said she had requested the Sarawak government to furnish her with the related documents pertaining to the project on Nov 21, but until now the government has failed to do so.
She said if the directly awarded multi-million project to a private consultant was not overpriced, and had complied with all standard implementing procedures, there should not be any reason for the Sarawak government to not willingly disclose the related documents.
“Two weeks have passed, and I haven't received any reply from the Sarawak government. Obviously, such practice is abnormal.
“Why is the government so scared to let the public know the truth?” she told a press conference at DAP headquarters here yesterday.
Yong recalled that Minister in the Chief Minister's Office (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Talip Zulpilip in his winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly on Nov 11 had said that the government was willing to share with her the design specification of the project.
She said since the Sarawak government had promised in the DUN to furnish her with the specification, it must walk the talk instead of going against its words.
“I have also officially written a letter to Talib requesting for a copy of the project specification to be furnished to me.
“The letter (which she showed to the press) had been acknowledged of its receipt, and I hope Talib will not take too long to furnish the documents,” she said.
She said the project involved public money, and since the Sarawak government always boasts of clean governance, there should not be any delay in furnishing the document.
Yong, who revisited the Darul Hana Musical Fountain last week, also described the fountain as 'defected, simple and not synchronised'; not complex and specialised as claimed by Talib or the Sarawak government.
She claimed the defect could even be seen at the water screen; the images projected through it were blur, especially on the left side.
“If you are standing at the ( Kuching) Waterfront from the Main Bazaar side, looking towards the fountain, the left screen is so blurry.
“Also, what I found was that at the 10pm session, the water screen image can only be displayed at 8.30pm and not at 10pm,” said Yong.
She said failure of the water screen to display images at the 10pm session was an indication that the projector was not of good quality to play for the 8.30pm and 10pm sessions. Yong also said there seemed to be no specific equipment to synchronise the lighting, music and water fountain.
“If you have seen those that are truly called musical fountains, they have special equipments that control the music, the fountain and the lights together, whereby when you have fast music, the water fountain has to synchronise with the fast music.
“But at our musical fountain, the music has already ended but the water is still splashing. It's so obvious there is no such special equipment to synchronise the three components – light, music and fountain.
“I hope the government can come clean and disclose the documents that I have requested and make good all the defects that I have highlighted,” she said.