THE hundreds of projects reportedly approved by the Barisan Nasional government before its ouster in May were cancelled by the new Pakatan Harapan government because there was either no money for them or the projects were awarded to cronies at inflated prices, says Sarawak DAP.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) had accused PH of discrimination by cancelling many projects approved by the previous BN administration.

Sarawak DAP and PH chairman Chong Chieng Jen, however, poured cold water on the accusation, saying the Finance Ministry had deemed many of the projects “empty promises of Najib (Razak)”.

“These were ‘hot air’ projects. They were approved by the former prime minister, particularly before the election, knowing full well there were no budgetary allocations for them,” he said in Kuching today.

“There were hundreds of such promised projects all over the country,” Chong said.

“Making empty promises, especially close to election time, is just one of the practices of Najib and his BN government.”

The remaining projects terminated by the ministry were those that were awarded but were show down after impropriety was detected.

Chong said these cancelled projects were awarded directly without going through an open tender process and at a highly inflated price.

“These are what we call the ‘crony projects’.”

Chong said they were all now under review.

Former natural resources and environment minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had been among the GPS MPs that had spoken up about the cancellations.

The Santubong MP had accused the PH government of cancelling up to RM486 million worth of development projects in Sarawak.

He had said the projects, including flood mitigation projects valued at RM250 million for Kuching and Sibu, had been planned and approved by his former ministry for implementation before May 9.

Wan Junaidi then described the cancellation as a “political game”.

“With the new government out to prove a point, they cancelled all BN projects. When people ask me about those projects, I do not know how to answer them,” he reportedly said last month. – October 21, 2018.