KUCHING, Sept 18: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) emphasised that the Jiwa Murni rural road programme is under the jurisdiction of the Defence Ministry in which the technical specification was approved by the ministry.
PRS secretary-general Datuk Janang Bunsu and members Charles Chad Nissom and Edwin Banta who are political secretaries to the Chief Minister have criticised the opposition for making baseless accusations linking the project with the Sarawak Ministry of Infrastructure and Ports Development.
Janang, Charles and Edwin in a joint statement said attempts by the opposition to implicate the involvement of Infrastructure and Ports Development Minister Tan Sri James Jemut Masing to the project were mischievous.
“We wish to nullify and put to right perspective some irresponsible statements by certain unscrupulous quarters levelled at the State Government, in particular, the MIPD that implicated the state government as being involved in the implementation of the Jiwa Murni rural road programme in Sarawak.
“The implementation of Jiwa Murni rural road programme in Sarawak comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Defence.
“The (Defence) Ministry is the authority that selects and appoints the contractors to undertake the construction and completion of Jiwa Murni rural roads based on the technical specifications approved by the Ministry of Defence,” they said in a joint statement.
They added the statements made by the opposition were inaccurate and could affect the credibility of Masing who is also Deputy Chief Minister and PRS president.
Thus, they questioned the integrity of the opposition party who wanted to gain political mileage for themselves.
Janang, Charles and Edwin reiterated that the Ministry of Defence is responsible to verify and certify the progress and completion of the scheduled works for the rural road programme.
They stressed that the rural road programme was not under the jurisdiction of the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR) and thus, the state government has no connection either with the funding or with the award of contractors to build Jiwa Murni roads in Sarawak.
They also asserted that Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and Masing agreed that the project had nothing to do with the MIPD. — DayakDaily
