RM63 mln recovered from Sabah ‘Watergate’ scandal

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of RM63 million worth of asset has been recovered from the 2016 Sabah Water Department scandal, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday.

The amount recovered was from a RM3.3 billion fund that was meant for water infrastructure projects, he said.

“The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision (MACC) now is focused on large-scale corruption cases, because previously it has been wasting too much time and energy on catching anchovies (ikan bilis), and this will not help as it became a systemic problem.

“A few of the cases that I refer to as large-scale corruption cases include the biggest water scandal in Sabah which involved RM3.3 billion (meant for water) infrastructure, RM63 million worth of assets was recovered through the Ops Water, and the case is still in court,” Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat during the Prime Minister’s question time.

Secondly, Anwar said the bitcoin mining syndicates which stole electricity with losses amounting to RM2.3 billion from 2018 to 2021.

He also mentioned a recovery of RM426 million from the Hiring Incentive Programme (PenjanaKerjaya) that was done through Ops Hire. This was recovered from the false claims made during the movement control order (MCO) enforced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anwar was responding to Lo Sui Fui (GRS-Tawau) who asked about the government’s measures to address corruption in the country and restore the country’s image at the international level.

To Lo’s supplementary question on the formulation of law relating to political funding, Anwar said the government was also committed to doing it, but it was still in the early stage as several reports need to be studied before the draft can be submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee.

Anwar also said that the government is in the midst of studying the provisions in relevant laws to enhance protection for whistleblowers who report on corruption and misconduct cases.

He said it was among his main focuses now as there were many whistleblowers including civil servants who may feel insecure and unsafe to report such cases due to pressure.

He said there was also a view from the legal side that this would not give way to any party to make false accusations or slander.

“So, as an effort to get facts and information, I agree with the call (for amendment) and we will table it at the next Parliament session at the latest,” he said in reply to Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah).

Mas Ermieyati wanted to know the government’s commitment to amending the law relating to protection for whistleblowers which should be done as soon as possible as suggested by the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) on Integrity, Governance and Anti-Corruption.