Sabah out to recoup RM1bil

Its water dept wants to retrieve payments over many lopsided deals

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Water Department expects to retrieve some RM1bil in payment made to contractors over lopsided deals in recent years following a planned restructuring soon, says Datuk Peter Anthony.

The Infrastructure Development Minister, whose ministry oversees the department, said they had identified six contractors that managed 58 water treatment plants and dams in the state.

“These contractors were paid about RM3.7bil for a period of 20 years, but the allocations were not used to maintain the plants and dams,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

Anthony added that the contractors were allowed to claim payments for works that cost RM5,000 and above.

“They (the contractors) are paid such a huge sum but the money is not used for the purpose,” Anthony alleged, saying that it was a huge waste of the people’s money.

“We will review the concessionaires and carry out a restructuring,” he added.

However, he said they still would need to thoroughly study the terms of contracts as it was signed by the previous Barisan Nasional government.

Anthony also said that he had also brought this matter up to the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission (MACC) to reopen all investigations into the Sabah water scandal.

The MACC seized RM114mil worth of assets, RM53.7mil in cash stashed in houses and offices from two senior department officials on Oct 4, 2016.

Both men were investigated for alleged abuse of power and money laundering linked to contracts for RM3.3bil federal-funded projects channelled to the department since 2010.

Two others – a Datuk businessman, who is a brother of one of the officials, and an accountant – were also arrested.