KOTA KINABALU: Parti Warisan has hit back at Sabah Umno over the party’s accusations that the state’s water crisis was caused by Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
Gum-Gum assemblyman Arunarnsin Taib said Sabah Umno Information Chief Datuk Suhaimi Nasir’s statement was a baseless accusation.
“The 2019 Series 1 Auditor-General of Malaysia report explained that the nine outsourced contracts for 58 water treatment plants were not balanced and brought losses to the state due to the unavailability of a penalty clause when the companies failed to comply with their terms.
“Contracts were given to new and inexperienced companies. One company, which had just been established for a year, was given a 20-year contract,” he said.
Arunarnsin added that there were conflicts of interest, highlighting that one of the companies was owned by a relative of a senior officer from the Sabah Water Department who was linked to the RM114.5mil water scandal.
He said maintenance works were also recorded in lump sums without transparent details of the costs incurred.
In addition, he alleged that meeting minutes could not be produced when requested by the Auditor-General.
“So the question now is, which report is reliable? Is it the Auditor-General’s records or a politician’s accusations? Is Suhaimi trying to undermine the credibility of the Auditor-General?” Arunarnsin asked.
