KUCHING, June 12: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii has written to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to urge them to probe with greater urgency the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak.
The fund was purportedly granted by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to a car-rental firm owned by Saidi Abang Samsudin, the deputy chief of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Jepak branch.
Dr Yii also urged Jepak assemblyman Datuk Talib Zulpilip, who is also Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Integrity and Ombudsman), to conduct an internal investigation into PBB Jepak branch to get to the root of the problem.
“This (issue) not only affects the quality of education of our children but also involves over a billion ringgit of public money.
“A problem of this magnitude must be investigated,” he told a press conference today.
Yii bemoaned that 369 schools in the state still depended on diesel-powered generators for electricity; and before 2017, the diesel were supplied by several contractors on a contract basis.
However, from January 1, 2017, that contract, which amounts to RM1.25 billion, was awarded to Jepak Holding Sdn Bhd allegedly through direct appointment by Najib, thus bypassing the Education Ministry’s standard operating procedure and procurement processes. The deal was supposedly for the installation of hybrid photovoltaic (PV) solar systems and provision of diesel to all these schools.
Dr Yii said he was made to understand that according to the three-year-contract, the project should have been 51 per cent completed by May 15 this year, but allegedly nothing has been done so far.
Dr Yii added that principals in the affected schools had also claimed that their schools never received the diesel but their signatures were forged in the claims forms.
“This is akin to daylight robbery and depriving our own children by Sarawakians themselves,” he opined. — DayakDaily
