Kota Kinabalu: Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan refuted claims by Tanjung Aru Assemblyman Datuk Junz Wong regarding an alleged RM1.5 billion water agreement.
The Apas Assemblyman, in a statement, here, Monday, characterised Junz’s allegations as false and made with malicious intent to mislead the public.
“Junz is barking about a project that does not exist. He is making baseless accusations and his statement is defamatory with malicious intent,” Nizam said.
Nizam said the project in question is merely at the proposal stage and has received neither commitment nor approval from the State Government.
He said a Letter of Intent was issued solely for study purposes, not to award any contract.
“The fact is, the company involved has not yet completed their study and no final decision has been made. The letter of intent for this study is financed by the company itself and does not involve public funds,” Nizam said.
He said potential financing from Sabah Credit Corporation is only a possibility if the proposal is approved.
“To date, the Sabah Credit Corporation has not been appointed as the financier for the Private Finance Initiative because the project must first be approved by the government,” he added.
“Junz is damaging his own credibility through these false allegations,” Nizam said.
“He should reveal the solid documents he claims to have obtained and verify their authenticity instead of making statements with malicious intent to confuse the people,” he said.
“He (Junz) must be held accountable for his false, baseless and malicious statements,” Nizam said, adding that stern action would be taken against Junz.