Kuala Lumpur: Sabah MPs have urged the Federal Government to review the cancellation of tender processes for Rural Road (JALB) projects in Sabah to ensure they proceed for the well-being of the people.
Penampang MP Datuk Ewon Benedick, who led the MPs at a press conference, also called on the Federal Government to channel the remaining allocations to restore local contractors’ working capital.
Ewon said 112 JALB projects nationwide were facing outstanding interim payments to contractors and land compensation, involving a total of RM259.503 million.
“More concerning is that Sabah recorded the highest arrears, amounting to RM118.84 million involving 35 projects.
“Although the Finance Ministry announced an additional injection of funds, it has still failed to close the critical gap in existing arrears.
“This failure has forced the Government to take the easy way out, penalising rural communities nationwide through two drastic measures,” he said.
He said the first measure was the cancellation of large-scale tender processes involving 40 projects nationwide, with total allocations amounting to RM5.144 billion.
The cancellations affected RM1.716 billion allocated for 13 JALB projects in Sabah, he added.
The second measure was the postponement of Letters of Acceptance (SST) for 87 projects nationwide, involving allocations totalling RM8.096 billion.
This means the Sabah projects affected involved total over RM2.2 billion.
The directive to freeze the issuance of SSTs affected seven JALB projects in Sabah, involving allocations of RM548.85 million, he said.
“We will not remain silent and will continue to press the matter in Parliament to ensure the rights of Sabah’s rural communities are not denied,” he said.
Also present at the press conference were Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau, Kudat MP Datuk Verdon Bahanda, Kinabatangan MP Datuk Mohd Kurniawan Naim Moktar, Beaufort MP Datuk Hajah Siti Aminah Aching and Libaran MP Datuk Suhaimi Nasir.
