KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah state government will handle water supply projects for rural areas independently with immediate affect, said Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Deputy Prime Minister said this decision was made on March 17, involving a total of 83 new and “sick” projects at a cost of RM4.06bil with a funding of RM143mil in the first Rolling Plan of the 13th Malaysian Plan (RMK13), 2026.
He said this after a meeting with the state Rural and Regional Development Ministry here Thursday (April 16).
“The letter of devolution of power for these projects to Sabah was handed over to the state on Wednesday (April 15) night,” Ahmad Zahid said, adding that this reflected the Federal Government’s confidence towards Sabah’s capability in handling such projects.
He said while there were some challenges in terms of costings, coordination and human resource, a guideline will be drawn up for state agencies involved to carry out these projects properly.
Earlier, he said 83 projects involved those that were not carried out since RMK-11, which was over 10 years ago due to technical, operational and other commencement problems.
“Three main agencies, namely the Works Department, Department of Irrigation and Drainage and the Water Department will be in charge of these projects,” said Zahid.
He said the devolution of powers has nothing to do with the Malaysia Agreement 1963, but rather a mechanism to speed up infrastructure development projects for the state.
