KUCHING, Aug 27: Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong has slammed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)’s decision to end investigation on the RM31.89 million Kuching Musical Fountain project which she perceived has shown double standards.
“I am greatly disappointed and shocked to know that the MACC has decided that there will be no prosecution and has since ceased all investigation with no further action on the infamous RM31.89 million Kuching Musical Fountain project.
“Such revelation was made through the answer given to the Parliamentary question submitted by the Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen recently,” she revealed in a statement today.
If MACC was to look into the allegations of 101 projects which were allegedly awarded through direct negotiations under Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, Yong thus questioned why is MACC ending the investigation on the Kuching Musical Fountain project which she claimed was also done through direct negotiation by the Sarawak state government.
“In my view, given such a decision made by MACC, it is another black mark in (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin’s (Yassin) government, (which is) a total opposite to what he had pledged after he took helm as the Prime Minister where he promised the people to lead a government that practices integrity of the highest level and corruption free,” she criticised.
Yong added that it was clearly pointed out in the second series of the Auditor-General’s Report for 2018 that the Kuching Musical Fountain was submitted, evaluated, approved and awarded within a short span of 36 days to a private company which has zero experience in building musical fountains and waterscapes without any open tender.
“To put it aptly, it was a project that was never budgeted for and was whisked through in a high handed fast tacked manner by the Sarawak government,” she claimed.
“Are we witnessing another double standard practised by the anti-graft agency where investigation is only conducted on alleged PH’s direct negotiation projects and not on projects in the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) era?,” she hit back.
Yong thus called on the MACC to give its full justification in reaching such a perplexed decision which was not only tainted with questions of accountability and integrity but also poor implementation with the contractor not adhering to the terms of the contract agreement.-DayakDaily
