RESTRUCTURING the scandal-ridden Sabah Water Department’s top management has proven to be the right move, said Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said the department collected RM58 million in revenue within two months of the revamp.

“Alhamdulillah, after the restructuring, the appointment of a new director along with 19 district engineers on contract, the department was able to generate RM58 million in just over two months.

“This is not just a source of revenue for Sabah, but it also means that the state government now has funds to resolve the state’s water supply problems.

“Finally, the department is functioning well,” he told reporters after hosting Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar in Kota Kinabalu today.

The 2015 Auditor-General’s Report had rated the management of the Sabah Water Department, then under the Barisan Nasional regime, “less than satisfactory”.

The corruption scandal that hit the department had shocked the nation, with reports that hundreds of millions in cash, jewellery, luxury bags and land titles were found in the hands of the department’s senior officers in 2016.

A former deputy director of the department has pleaded not guilty to 146 counts of embezzlement of public funds, totalling RM32 million, at the Kota Kinabalu sessions court.

Former deputy director Ag Mohd Tahir Ag Talib, his wife, and another deputy director, Lim Lam Peng, were charged with 37 counts of misappropriation.

Shafie’s decision to appoint Amarjit Singh, who is not a public servant, as head of the department had been met with intense criticism.

The chief minister said Sabah has a long way to go before its water woes can be resolved, with many areas still without access to treated water and the state’s non-revenue water at 52%, one of the highest levels nationwide. – October 30, 2018.