RM 200 million, where they went?

Friday September 14, 2007
Sarawak should explain extra RM200m spent, says DAP

MIRI: Sarawak DAP wants the state government to give a detailed financial breakdown on why some RM200mil in extra expenditures had been paid to construct 384 temporary bridges in Sarawak.

State DAP Information Chief David Wong said the Federal Government must also provide a satisfactory answer to this "fiasco" in Sarawak.
"We are talking about wastages amounting to RM200mil, and for the replacement of the temporary bridges. The public have a right to know what had actually happened.
"It is not good enough for an auditor-general's report to be published and then for the matter to be eventually forgotten.

"That has happened many times before. But this time, the amount is too huge to be simply forgotten. The people in Sarawak deserve some good answers," Wong said on Friday.

Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang in his recent report to the Dewan Rakyat said that "the lack of detailed preliminary studies" was the reason why the construction costs to replace the 384 bridges out of the 570 bridges in Sarawak had risen from RM551.02mil to RM741.2mil.

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu on Thursday said in Kuching that if such problems arose because of faults by the state Public Works Department (JKR) then he would rectify it, but added that many such projects are under federal jurisdiction.

Wong yesterday described Jabu's reply as "flimsy and shallow".
"Such a reply is totally unacceptable. The state government and the Federal Government must furnish a detailed breakdown on what happened to the extra RM200mil that was used up.

"To which company was the extra amount paid, for which projects, what was the initial cost, what was the increase and why was there such an increase?
"The state government cannot simply push the blame to the federal side. Both the state and federal governments must be held accountable and both are answerable to the people of Sarawak," he stressed.

Wong said Sarawak DAP wants an independent commission to be set up to investigate such misuse of funds in the state, adding that the opposition parties want to be in the commission. He further stressed that the DAP state assembly members will bring this topic into the DUN when it meets in November this year.

The people in Sarawak will be very disappointed if no proper action were taken to penalise those guilty of mismanagement or hiking up the costs of such projects, he said.