KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has handed over six infrastructure projects completed through a total federal allocation of RM65.5mil to Sabah.
Fadillah, who is also the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister (Petra), made the symbolic handover to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, who represented the Chief Minister, in a ceremony here on Saturday (Dec 7).
The six included three flood mitigation projects, one river mouth rehabilitation project, one coastal erosion prevention project, and a pump house upgrade project.
Fadillah said the projects, among others, involved the flood mitigation schemes for Sungai Tawau; Sungai Kadamaian/Sungai Tempasuk/Sungai Abai and Sungai Kawang-Kawang in Kota Belud and Bandar Sierra in Telipok near here.
“Some 20,000 residents will benefit from the completion of these three flood mitigation projects, which will reduce flood-prone lands by about 1,403ha,” he told reporters.
The other projects are the river rehabilitation for Kampung Tompinahaton in Kiulu, Tuaran; coastal erosion prevention project in Kampung Mentadak Baru, Pulau Sebatik, Tawau and the upgrading of the Likas pump house at the Likas Lagoon here.
He said the initiative at Kampung Tompinahaton has successfully prevented riverbank erosion disasters, providing protection for public properties, including a community hall, cemetery, and 300 residential homes.
The coastal erosion prevention project at Kampung Mentadak Baru, he added, would protect almost 1,000 residents and public facilities such as a health clinic, police station and jetty, from erosion caused by waves.
Fadillah explained that the Federal Government, through Petra, has approved 82 projects with a total cost of RM8.5bil for Sabah under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).
He added that the current allocation under the Fourth Rolling Plan (RP4) for 2024 amounted to RM674.4mil.
Furthermore, he said, Sabah’s Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) has been allocated RM116.77mil to implement 27 projects under RP5 to improve the well-being and socio-economic development of people in Sabah.
The Deputy Prime Minister said Sabah was one of the states that received the highest development allocations under the national budget but was unable to fully utilise the funds.
Fadillah said this was due to several factors such as issues over land suitability as well as financial problems faced by contractors.
“There were cases where a contractor was appointed to rescue another, but that contractor also ran into problems so, this will add on the cost of the project when it needs an extension of time,” he said.
He said there were also problems related to workers, particularly a lack of professionals such as engineers, while shortage of building materials like cement and steel were also issues.
He added these projects normally involved the construction of rural water supply system, roads and schools, among others.
Fadillah said, hence, the focus next year was to maximise the usage of development funds in Sabah.
One of the ways, he said, was to utilise pre-approved plans (PAPs) developed by the Public Works Department (JKR) at the federal level to be user by Sabah JKR, adding this could expedite project implementation and completion.
He said it was also agreed in a meeting earlier on Saturday to establish a committee to monitor the progress of federal projects in Sabah and provide a monthly update report.
