Latest news with #Sabar–KopitiamCouncil
Daily Express
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Express
Innocent taxpayers biggest losers in graft
Published on: Thursday, May 22, 2025 Published on: Thu, May 22, 2025 By: David Thien Text Size: (From left) Adi, Michael, Hanafiah and Haffisz. Kota Kinabalu: It is ordinary citizens who end up paying the price for corruption and in the case of the 1MDB which cost the taxpayer RM42b, the impact will last for generations to come. Senior Chartered Accountant Partner at Crowe Horwath, Michael Tong, said 1MDB was also a world record-breaker in public looting. He was speaking at the recent NGO Sabar – Kopitiam Council 'Sabah Voices to Action' Episode 8 podcast recently on Good Governance, Public Fund Leakages & Mismanagement with Permanent Secretary of Sabah Ministry Science, Technology and Innovation, Datuk Mohd Hanafiah Mohd Kassim. The rot starts at the top and the consequences are still felt today. 'Closer to home, our Water Dept scandal uncovered in 2016 revealed senior government officials embezzled over RM60 million which was meant for the rural water supply projects. 'Deep entrenched cartel system collected and distributed to as high as the ministerial level,' he said. Both Michael and Mohd Hanafiah agreed there is a need to check graft that could undermine the progress of the state and steal the future of generations of Sabahans by a corrupt minority in positions to do so.' Advertisement 'The culture of complacency and apathy on graft must go, to be replaced by a culture of accountability and transparency.' People need to be guided, convinced, and educated about the consequences of corruption, and be able to express outrage in disapproval of it and not be apathetic, as Hanafiah puts it: 'Tidak payah lah, ini bukan saya punya hal.' Michael called for the Whistleblower Protection Act to be improved to curb corruption. The Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 was enacted to encourage and facilitate disclosure of improper conduct in both the public and private sectors. Under the Act, the range of protection goes as far as protection of confidential information; immunity from civil and criminal action; and protection from detrimental action. Michael noted that in a recent case the whistleblower became his own victim. He said it is important to forge political will to achieve efficiency and curb wastage by GLCs. Hanafiah said competency is crucial to check graft, with the proper governance and SOPs. It is an ongoing struggle as good and experienced personnel can be retired as time goes. 'All religions teach morality and between right and wrong,' Michael said, 'The shame culture is not there for people who engage in corruption. 'They don't have that dignity and honour to uphold the good name or legacy of their family. The culture of honouring and the culture of being shameful of wrongful conduct is lacking,' Michael noted. AG's report too late Hanafiah noted that at one point in time, the salaries of federal civil servants had not been reviewed for more than a decade. Sabah has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. He once asked the authorities on the people convicted of corruption – only 40 per cent prosecuted were the 'buayas' or big crocodiles, most were the 'kacangs' or (peanuts) or low level offenders. Michael noted that corruption is a long-standing issue due poor governance, lack of transparency, systemic corruption that is practiced and acceptable, and inefficiencies in public administration, insufficient check and balance institutions, poor integrity and moral values. He also said the It was reported reports by the Auditor-Generals came very late. This has not enabled the government to take action against corruption. 'The belated yearly National Audit Dept reports are on government projects at inflated costs like schools, hospitals and public infrastructure. 'Still the worst projects suffered from delays and substandard quality. Sabah's uncompleted Pan Borneo, quite unlike Sarawak's completion rate, is a clear comparison on the efficiency of the Pan Borneo Road project between the two States.' Placing experts in GLCs lauded Michael lauds the state government's recent placement of professionals into the management of some GLCs, noting these professionals would not risk their good reputation in tolerating graft, mismanagement and nepotism abuse which are detrimental to the operational health of these agencies. 'As most of these entities which are not managed by technocrats and professionals but political appointees, business is seldom practised as the corporate objective is to make profit. In some cases resulting in competing unfairly with private entrepreneurs.' He cited the example of MAS requiring multiple restructuring and bailouts with taxpayers' monies due to mismanagement. Michael recalled that in Sabah many industries set up by the Berjaya administration suffered losses and eventually sold off. 'Sabah, despite being resources rich, is one of the poorest states and one wonders how effective are these poverty alleviation programmes where there is criticism for inefficiencies and leakages and where the funds were alleged to have not reached the intended beneficiaries. 'One also needs to question whether the root cause of poverty has been properly addressed, or we are just treating the short-term symptoms especially without really understanding the cause such as the migration of Sabahans to work in West Malaysia because of better employment opportunities.' He noted that the need for a political war chest fund to win elections also contributes to cases of corruption. 'Sabah Voices to Action - Shaping Sabah's Future Together' is a citizen-driven, non-partisan initiative running from March to June 2025, dedicated to amplifying Sabahans' voices, fostering meaningful discussions, and shaping policies on education, healthcare, public infrastructure, and good governance. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
21-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Maintenance culture lacking in Sabah
Published on: Wednesday, May 21, 2025 Published on: Wed, May 21, 2025 By: David Thien Text Size: At the podcast session: (From left) Adi, Rizal, Amarjit and Haffisz. Kota Kinabalu: Sabah's only remaining pre-war structures, namely the Tourism Sabah Office and Atkinson Clock Tower bear evidence to the importance of meritocracy and maintenance culture. Nowadays, it is considered good if a modern concrete building can last 50 years. Architect Rizal Ahmad Banjar shared this opinion at a recent NGO Sabar – Kopitiam Council 'Sabah Voices to Action' Episode 6 podcast hosted by talk show stars Adi and Haffisz on 'Infrastructure & Housing: From the Eyes of the Professionals. Rizal said as a professional, this has concerned him very much. Other than adhering to good building standards, a good culture of maintenance is vital for Sabah to ensure that the lifespan of a building can last long. He cited the many great cathedrals of Europe that have lasted for a few centuries as what good and proper maintenance could ensure. 'That's the irony of constructing a building. In Europe, there are cathedrals that can last hundreds of years. Now with all our technology, with all our skills, with all our knowhow, if the building can last for 50 years, it can be considered good. Advertisement 'Planning must involve long-term implementation up to 100 years if possible, to last up to our grandchildren's generation with good and proper maintenance. So that they, our future generations, don't have to spend millions for repairs. 'We should not waste or take up the future of our next generations,' Ar Rizal said. Water industry expert Datuk Ir Ts Dr Amarjit Singh cited the Taj Mahal that lasted hundreds of years in India. He attributed it to master craftsmen who were specialists in their fields of building expertise compared to the situation now that any privileged person who can be a jack of all trades can also pass off as a building contractor, with no qualms to cut corners. Podcast host Haffisz brought up the issue of the 'Alibaba' system with the main contractor getting the bulk of the contract sum, while appointing subcontractors to do the actual work getting the least payment and how to end such dishonest practices. Ar Rizal and Dr Amarjit said it is vital to practise meritocracy in getting the right people in a merit-approach system to do the works responsibly. 'I am a Bumiputra myself. This policy has been manipulated and abused to the extent it has become a commission thing. 'From my experience we know who is doing the work. They are the last ones to get the money. They receive the least money. Sometimes they don't receive at all. That's the worst.' Datuk Ir Ts Dr Amarjit Singh: 'The big companies get the jobs, and still they will get subcontractors to do the work. Why don't the Government instead give it directly to the subcontractor level. 'When the Bumiputra ideology came it slowly diminished the opportunities for others, non-Bumiputras. We call ourselves Malaysians, but are we actually equally treated? That's another question.' Dr Amarjit said the contractors doing water treatment plants and other projects were largely the non-Bumiputras and some Westerners. Ar Rizal said most main contractors have not been helpful in preventing delays and the need for extension of time after marking up the subcontractors' contract sum, sometimes by 30 per cent. The subcontractors don't mark up their prices if awarded directly. He said if the system is reversed, 'You are in a win-win situation, you get good works and completion in time. 'What the subcontractors don't have is the so called Bumiputra status, the so-called connections and so-called licensing. 'What we want is their specialist skills with a priority to complete the project. Ar Rizal said having supervised thousands of big and small projects, all faced delays. He is a local Bumiputra and believes Bumiputras should be helped. However, there should be merit in ensuring that the right and qualified people get to do the work. Ar Rizal suggested that project works be awarded to the people who actually do the job whereby the subcontractors be given the job with the appropriate contract sum. 'I am sure you have noticed that students after they have finished SPM or STPM. The Nons don't have many opportunities to get either scholarship or go for matriculations to further their studies.' He hoped that in Malaysia, things are changing for the better with the younger generations. 'Infrastructure development involves maintenance. You can build the best infrastructure, but if you do not maintain it, the infrastructure will deteriorate over time.' Sabah has to produce more professionals in the fields that the State plans to excel in, Dr Amarjit said. Planning is one matter and implementation is another vital factor. 'We need to have the right people doing the right things as in meritocracy,' he said. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
13-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Cartel factor in Sabah projects
Published on: Tuesday, May 13, 2025 Published on: Tue, May 13, 2025 By: David Thien Text Size: From left – Adi, Ar. Rizal, Dr Amarjit and Haffisz. Kota Kinabalu: The involvement of project cartels in many big construction projects in Sabah has led to numerous problems for local professionals and contractors. Such projects were actually not done by the people who are supposed to do it. The presence of these cartels, which have good political connections and are very well-versed in how to get project tenders in the federal capital, has worsened the construction situation. This was revealed by architect Ar. Rizal Ahmad Banjar at the recent NGO Sabar – Kopitiam Council 'Sabah Voices to Action' Episode 6 podcast recently hosted by talk show stars Adi and Haffisz on 'Infrastructure & Housing: From the Eyes of the Professionals' with water industry supply resource expert Datuk Ir. Ts. Dr Amarjit Singh. According to Ar. Rizal, monopolistic construction cartels are affecting local contractors and professionals as they corner government construction contracts from A to Z impacting the proper implementation of major projects with funds flowing outside Sabah and which do not trickle back to Sabah. 'That's the sad part of it,' Ar. Rizal said, stressing that such systemic monopoly does not help to build up local contractors and professionals as they get peanuts in income profit, 'or don't get at all.' Ar. Rizal said at the end of it, 'We are not getting what we are supposed to get.' This led to a situation where the local contractors and professionals have little financial resources to build up their capacity to compete with the bigger competition from elsewhere. Datuk Ir. Ts. Dr Amarjit said ultimately, 'Vitamin M, the dollars and cents matter. If you have enough resources, if you have enough financial aid, anything can be built in Sabah. Even a nuclear power station.' Dr Amarjit agreed with Ar. Rizal that project contracts should be awarded to people who do the actual work. 'We are giving the work not to the right persons. We need to have the right people doing the right things, as in a meritocracy.' He believes that funding being an issue is hampering the current infrastructure development, saying that having lived in Kuala Lumpur, there are multi-storey flyovers up to three to four levels but here in Sabah it is only at one level. 'So, all the monies need to be brought back to develop our state.' 'We will always need professionals. There will never be enough professionals in Sabah,' he said, adding that if in the case of Sabah, aiming to go into electronics export, then there is a need for more electronic engineers as an example. 'Anybody can become a contractor nowadays. Anybody can do any work nowadays. If you go back 40 or 50 years, for example, if you are a musician, I will only hire you as a musician, I will not ask you to do any cooking for me. 'Now, as we progress, we have this philosophy of 'semua boleh'. You don't get the road engineer to do water works,' Dr Amajit opined. He said in Sabah, the water system comes in three phases. 'The first phase is the production. Next you have the operation, and last you have the billing. Production is where you have the structure where your infrastructure sits.' 'They operate, produce water. Then water is channelled and is purveyed to customers and you people are all billed. I hope you pay your bills in order to have the production, you need the source. 'Sources in Malaysia actually 95 per cent comes from the rivers. Sabah's context, yes, 95 per cent comes from rivers. 'We only have six dams in Sabah. The famous is the Babagon Dam in Penampang. There is one off river storage near the Talibong 2 treatment plant.' He noted that there were a lot of objections by people including university professors, on building dams like the proposed Papar dam and before that was the Kaiduan dam. 'Villagers unwilling to lose their heritage lands which will be inundated in the waters of the dams. So, dams off river and in the sea may be the alternative. Dr Amajit said when he was in primary school, he learnt that Sabah was not affected by earthquakes, which now is considered prone to earthquakes which may impact dams in certain locations. 'The issue is whether we have enough source, or whether we have enough infrastructure, or whether we have enough pipelines, and last but not least is the billing. 'NRW, the definition of Non-Revenue Water is whatever is actually produced and whatever is billed. You minus these two and you divide by what is produced. In Sabah, the NRW is more than 60 per cent,' Dr Amarjit said. Ar. Rizal called for a sustainable rainwater harvesting system and a big central water tank storage system for every housing estate to be provided by the property developer with incentives to be provided by the government to complement the public water supply system. Dr Amarjit said in every housing estate in Kuala Lumpur, there is such a big balancing tank or whatever you want to call it to complement the public water supply system. He called for such a system to be implemented in Sabah. He revealed that the largest water treatment plant in Sabah is only having a capacity of 180 million litres a day. Dr Amarjit said in the case of the Selangor water supply authority, the first water treatment plant was 900 million litres a day. The second one was 950 million litres a day. The third one was 800 million litres a day. 'But in Sabah we go for small-scale development.' 'We are always trying to promote enough storage. Rather than building upstream dams, why don't we build water dams in the sea? 'China has done it to serve a population of about 12 million. Whenever we have additional rainfall – 2500 mm per year flowing into the river to the sea. Why don't we tap it just before it enters the sea?' Dr Amarjit opined that illegal tapping is not the main cause of NRW. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
07-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Expert: Relocation of airport example of on-off planning
Published on: Wednesday, May 07, 2025 Published on: Wed, May 07, 2025 By: David Thien Text Size: The parking space at KKIA being utilised by visitors Kota Kinabalu: Sabahans suffered from confusion because with every change of State Government, development plans also got changed or sidelined. An example is the replacement airport for the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), one of the subjects discussed at the NGO Sabar – Kopitiam Council 'Sabah Voices to Action' podcast, recently. It was hosted by talk show stars Adi and Haffisz on 'Sabah's infrastructure and Housing Challenges: No end in sight. What is holding back progress?' Chartered property surveyor Sr. Raja Sundra Lingam @ Sunny Kelvin and engineer Ir. Lo Chong Chiun were guests. Raja said local plans or structural plans are mostly in draft forms, that means nothing is fixed, there is no certainty. 'Tomorrow, the planning authorities can change the plans, if they want to.' Lo said the local plans or structural plans are not gazetted. Raja questioned building or relocating to a new airport in Kimanis which has no good infrastructure linkage to the new airport like travelling to KLIA. 'People will have to travel three to four hours, and those from Kudat may have to sleep overnight, incurring more expenses. 'Fast rail or high speed rail would be needed,' said Raja, adding that in his mind the location is not that suitable although it is very flat in the Kampung Madahan area. He said it is also very close to the SOGT which is a fire risk hazard area. 'KKIA is still able to cater to the airport passenger numbers. So now they have got their act together and said that they will expand KKIA with more money to cater to the rising passenger volume,' Raja said. He noted that in the past, every State government mulled relocating or building a new airport in Sikuati, Kudat, Kota Belud or Tuaran, besides the Kimanis, with interested parties lobbying for the project. Raja spoke about the proposed Private Funding Initiative for railway which is great for tourism but has yet to be realised for public transportation. The PBS government wanted to build a railway connection to the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) and the previous State government wanted to build a railway to Kudat with a new international port. Now there is a proposal for a Pan-Borneo railway when the Pan-Borneo Highway can only be fully completed by 2029. There was even a proposed sky train for the State capital by a politician in the past. Lo spoke on the challenging problems of land acquisition for projects in Sabah. 'If the land is not readily available, then the project just cannot kick off. Then there is the budget issue. 'The weak Land Acquisition Ordinance needs to be updated to be more equitable in public interests as the current compensation matter has to be at arm's length deal so this is very outdated. We need to update the law to benefit more people from easier land acquisition.' He cited the example of building a dam for water supply which until today has not started after changes in government. There was then the proposed Kaiduan Dam and now the Papar Dam still in the pipeline. 'Actually there was a plan to have a Bus Rapid Transportation (BRT) system during the late Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's time which was a long time ago,' said Lo. 'It was allocated RM1 billion but somehow it was not spent, we don't know why. So, in terms of public transportation, we are actually very, very far behind.' Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) is a high-quality public transportation system designed to provide faster and more efficient bus services in cities. It operates on dedicated lanes, has fewer stops, and uses modern buses to improve speed and reliability. It was even reported that a GLC, Warisan Harta, now known as Qhazanah Sabah Berhad was looking into electric buses, and went to visit a factory in China for the purpose. Warisan Harta was also given the mandate to exploit Sabah's hydropower potential but did not develop anything substantial then. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
04-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Orderly development lacking in Sabah
Published on: Monday, May 05, 2025 Published on: Mon, May 05, 2025 By: David Thien Text Size: From left: Adi, Ir. Lo, Sr. Sunny Raja and Haffisz. Kota Kinabalu: Sabah needs a proper master plan for orderly development in every district, according to chartered property surveyor and consultant Sr Raja Sundra Lingam @ Sunny Kelvin. He said the pace of development in Sabah is slower than in Peninsula which has a higher population density. 'Without a proper master plan, building type zoning can change, as many cases in the past. 'Contractors working on utilities can dig here and there, one after another for different pipe or cable laying, etc,' he said and called for identifying a utility corridor reserve to accommodate these works. Sr Raja was speaking in a NGO Sabar – Kopitiam Council 'Sabah Voices to Action' podcast hosted by talk show stars Adi and Haffisz on 'Sabah's infrastructure and Housing Challenges: No end in sight. What is holding back progress?' 'Planning is a very important aspect of development,' Sr Raja said. 'What Sabah lacks is excellence on the implementation stage. 'We have all the good framework ingredients to develop the state in a good way.' Ir. Lo Chong Chiun concurred with Sr Raja that with the British system of town planning and standards, Sabah has got a 'good framework'. However, he noted that based on media news reports, 'we are really in a bad state or conditions, where roads, electricity supply, etc, are in a mess.' One of the key reasons, according to Ir. Lo, was 'different departments or agencies working in silos. 'They are not sharing information. You are doing your thing, and I am doing my thing. 'It is all not coordinated. Unfortunately, even the district councils probably don't talk to each other.' he said. Sr Raja noted that property prices in and around the state capital have gone up by a huge margin within 60 years of Sabah history in Malaysia, making it expensive and beyond the search of many to own homes nearer to their places of work. 'Most Sabahans can't afford the houses.' How did property prices become so expensive? Sr Raja attributed it to the scarcity of suitable flat land as the topography of the city has hills such as the Signal Hill and the Shangri-La heights (next to the KKIA) that limit development potential. 'Our cities are mostly coastal cities,' he said, adding that housing is a basic necessity for every Sabahan. 'Everybody should own a house.' He also blamed inflation costs, the need to import building materials and that due to the Cabotage Policy making shippers unloading these building materials in Port Klang and the need to re-ship these items by local ships to Sabah's main port and feeder ports. The bad road infrastructure to transport building materials also add to the rising costs of construction and labour. Without a good public transportation system, car ownership is a must for the working population to get to work and return home. This led to traffic congestion as the working population increases every year putting more vehicles on the road while road network expansion is slow to accommodate heavy traffic flow during peak hours. Sr Raja Sundra Lingam @ Sunny Kelvin shared his Tuaran resident staff's working life experience coming to work in the morning: 'To reach my office here in Kota Kinabalu, they have to leave their Tuaran homes by 5:30 a.m.' 'What we do need is LRT,' he said. Ir. Lo said, 'We actually do not have any public transportation. What we have is the minibus which is giving us a lot of problems.' Sr Raja promotes 'Transit Oriented Development' TOD) which is a universal land-use solution that encourages mixed-use developments around public transit systems. Specifically, clustering housing, jobs, schools, commercial spaces, health services, and amenities within close distance of a transit station. However, this is not seen in Sabah, where in the state capital, even the planned bus depots except for Inanam and KK Sentral were not yet built in Penampang, Kepayan next to KKIA, etc. TOD placemaking also focuses on creating quality pedestrian-centric environments. Living in TOD communities offers residents a myriad of benefits, including reduced commuting times, lower transportation costs, and a healthier lifestyle due to increased walkability and access to public transportation. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
