KUCHING, Sept 29: Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen today said the flood mitigation projects as claimed by Santubong MP Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar were non-existing.
He claimed many of these projects were announced by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and were not passed in parliament.
“As far as I know, there were allocations for flood mitigation projects costing billions in the Eighth Malaysia Plan. However, the money was not actually given.
“These projects are non-existing. They were only Najib’s empty promises that Wan Junaidi treasures like something precious,” said Chong when fielding a question during a press conference here today.
A reporter had asked Chong for his comment on the recent statement by Wan Junaidi, who is formerly the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government had cancelled flood mitigation projects in Sarawak.
Chong admitted that after PH took over Putrajaya, many projects were reviewed and some were cancelled.
Chong, who is also Stampin MP and state PH chief, said projects that were reviewed or cancelled involved astronomical budget and way above reasonable pricing.
“All those reviewed or cancelled projects are those whereby the figures given, quoted or offered to the contractors, are way above reasonable price. These are contracts implemented not for the benefit of the people but for the benefits of cronies. That is why we reviewed or even cancel the projects,” he explained.
The affected projects include the East Coast Rail Link, MRT3, and Malaysia Singapore High-Speed Rail.
“I wonder why Wan Junaidi is so upset and started making baseless allegations. Maybe he can show us some of the projects that are awarded to those companies that he knows and (that) may be cancelled and reviewed. We will look into it to see specifically how much it is over budget, overpriced.
“Let Wan Junaidi show us the proof where the budget has been allocated for whatever project that he had alleged,” he said.
Chong, who is also Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, pointed out that there was no budgetary allocation for flood mitigation projects.
“We have a book of the budget this thick. All the projects are in the book. Show us and stop making baseless accusations. Bear in mind, the government can sue for defamation,” said Chong. — DayakDaily
