KUCH­ING: The Malaysian An­tiCor­rup­tion Com­mis­sion ( MACC) is still pur­su­ing its case against Jepak Hold­ings Sdn Bhd, the con­trac­tor to sup­ply so­lar en­ergy to 369 schools in Sarawak, over some ir­reg­u­lar­i­ties.

The anti-graft agency told news por­tal Malaysi­akini that it was tak­ing steps to­wards in­ves­ti­gat­ing the so­lar hy­brid project meant to power these ru­ral schools.
The com­mis­sion also said it had ini­ti­ated its in­ves­ti­ga­tion on the com­pany even be­fore the re­cent gen­eral elec­tion.
“MACC would like to in­form that it had taken proac­tive ac­tion by con­duct­ing a pre­lim­i­nary in­ves­ti­ga­tion on the is­sue in early April 2018, which was be­fore the gen­eral elec­tion, af­ter re­ceiv­ing a tip- off from the pub­lic,” Malaysi­akini quoted MACC.

“MACC would like to in­form that it had taken proac­tive ac­tion by con­duct­ing a pre­lim­i­nary in­ves­ti­ga­tion on the is­sue in early April 2018, which was be­fore the gen­eral elec­tion, af­ter re­ceiv­ing a tip- off from the pub­lic,” Malaysi­akini quoted MACC.
Doc­u­ments linked to the project, the com­mis­sion added, have been seized from the Ed­u­ca­tion Min­istry in ac­cor­dance with the MACC Act 2009, and will be scru­ti­nised to see if there are el­e­ments of graft in­volved. It urged the pub­lic to be pa­tient un­til it com­pletes its in­ves­ti­ga­tions into the mat­ter.
Prior to the ar­ti­cle, whistle­blower Sarawak Re­port re­vealed that

MACC would like to in­form that it had taken proac­tive ac­tion by con­duct­ing a pre­lim­i­nary in­ves­ti­ga­tion on the is­sue in early April 2018, which was prior the gen­eral elec­tion, af­ter re­ceiv­ing a tip-off from the pub­lic. Malaysian Anti-Cor­rup­tion Com­mis­sion

MACC would like to in­form that it had taken proac­tive ac­tion by con­duct­ing a pre­lim­i­nary in­ves­ti­ga­tion on the is­sue in early April 2018, which was prior the gen­eral elec­tion, af­ter re­ceiv­ing a tip-off from the pub­lic. Malaysian Anti-Cor­rup­tion Com­mis­sion

for­mer prime min­is­ter Datuk Seri Na­jib Tun Razak by­passed the Ed­u­ca­tion Min­istry’s pro­cure­ment guide­lines and di­rectly awarded the project to a car rental com­pany in Jan­uary last year. It also noted that not a sin­gle so­lar power unit had been in­stalled so far.
Sarawak Re­port also al­leged that Na­jib, who was also Fi­nance Min­is­ter then, signed off hun­dreds of mil­lions of ring­git for the so­lar project for schools in Sarawak, in what the whistle­blower claimed was a scam. It also al­leged that the com­pany’s man­ag­ing di­rec­tor Saidi Abang Sam­sudin had ben­e­fited from his con­tacts with Na­jib’s wife Datin Seri Ros­mah Man­sor.

Sarawak Re­port also al­leged that Na­jib, who was also Fi­nance Min­is­ter then, signed off hun­dreds of mil­lions of ring­git for the so­lar project for schools in Sarawak, in what the whistle­blower claimed was a scam. It also al­leged that the com­pany’s man­ag­ing di­rec­tor Saidi Abang Sam­sudin had ben­e­fited from his con­tacts with Na­jib’s wife Datin Seri Ros­mah Man­sor.
Malaysi­akini also re­ported hav­ing sighted doc­u­ments re­lated to this project.
Mean­while, MACC deputy chief com­mis­sioner of oper­a­tions Azam Baki stressed that there has been no pres­sure from any party to dis­rupt the in­ves­ti­ga­tion.
“We also did not re­ceive in­for­ma­tion that the min­istry staff who raised con­cerns on the project was trans­ferred,” he told Malaysi­akini.
Through The Bor­neo Post, Jepak Hold­ings on Sun­day de­nied any wrong­do­ing in the mat­ter, though it did con­cede that it se­cured the con­tract through direct ne­go­ti­a­tions with the pre­vi­ous ad­min­is­tra­tion.

Through The Bor­neo Post, Jepak Hold­ings on Sun­day de­nied any wrong­do­ing in the mat­ter, though it did con­cede that it se­cured the con­tract through direct ne­go­ti­a­tions with the pre­vi­ous ad­min­is­tra­tion.
Saidi also stressed the ac­tual cost of the project was RM750 mil­lion, and not the cited RM1.25 bil­lion, and that Jepak had not re­ceived any pay­ment re­lated to the project.
Saidi is con­tem­plat­ing lodg­ing a po­lice re­port against Sarawak Re­port for pub­lish­ing an ar­ti­cle about its project ‘based on lies’.

Saidi is con­tem­plat­ing lodg­ing a po­lice re­port against Sarawak Re­port for pub­lish­ing an ar­ti­cle about its project ‘based on lies’.
He said while it is true that he had se­cured the project through direct ne­go­ti­a­tion with the pre­vi­ous fed­eral gov­ern­ment to sup­ply so­lar en­ergy to 369 schools in Sarawak, the cost is RM750 mil­lion and not RM1.2 bil­lion as al­leged by the web­site.
“The RM1.2 bil­lion is the to­tal cost of var­i­ous projects in­clud­ing main­te­nance and sup­ply of diesel. If one cares to com­pare the cost of RM750 mil­lion cov­er­ing 369 schools, it is in fact cheaper than the cost of a sim­i­lar project in Sabah which only cov­ers 176 schools,” he said when con­tacted on Sun­day.

“The RM1.2 bil­lion is the to­tal cost of var­i­ous projects in­clud­ing main­te­nance and sup­ply of diesel. If one cares to com­pare the cost of RM750 mil­lion cov­er­ing 369 schools, it is in fact cheaper than the cost of a sim­i­lar project in Sabah which only cov­ers 176 schools,” he said when con­tacted on Sun­day.
“(The) project has been awarded, how­ever, (and) the com­pany is in the midst of sub­mit­ting plans. We have not col­lected any money re­lated to the project. The so­lar en­ergy project for schools in Sarawak started in 2015 is on­go­ing.
“The direct ne­go­ti­a­tion con­tract is le­gal. How could it not be le­gal? We will lodge a po­lice re­port soon against Sarawak Re­port af­ter I have talked to my lawyers. Its ar­ti­cle is based on lies,” stressed Saidi, who called the ar­ti­cle base­less and cal­cu­lated to dis­par­age his rep­u­ta­tion as a busi­ness­man.
When con­tacted yes­ter­day, Saidi said he would com­ment on the lat­est hap­pen­ings af­ter con­sul­ta­tion with his lawyer.

The Borneo Post

12 Jun 2018

My comments:
This Sarawak government to date has no ability to protect Sarawakians.  The schools lacking the shortage of diesel supply have to face darkness at night and other inconveniences.  Just imagine.  I believe that 80% of Sarawakians are set to change the present government for good.  I hope that Sarawakians will give small, new local parties a chance to stand out to represent us in the 2021 our Sarawak national election.