PRIME Minister Najib Razak never used oil and gas (O&G) blocks off Sabah as collateral for a RM100 billion loan from China, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

He said the claim circulating on social media and WhatsApp that the prime minister had sold the state’s natural resources through the construction of the Trans Sabah Gas Pipeline was a blatant lie.

Rahman said such claims could have come from those bent on creating mistrust towards the federal and Sabah governments.

“Land matters are strictly under state’s jurisdiction and, without the engagement and cooperation of the federal and state, project cannot proceed.

“The gas pipelines was supposed to be used for industries in Sabah, in the energy generation sector, with a government to government guarantee. Therefore, there are no elements to suggest that the gas blocks had been used as collateral for the loan,” he said after launching the International Conference Transformation, Community & Sustainable Development in Kota Kinabalu today.

Rahman also denied allegations that the Sabah government was not consulted over the development of the project.

Rahman said the pipeline project would be funded through a soft loan from the Export and Import (Exim) Bank of China, with the loan amount being RM4.53 billion, which also constituted the total cost of the whole project.

He also said the materials, equipment and labour to build the pipeline were being sourced from local and foreign sources, similar to the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit and East Coast Rail Line projects.

He said the project was developed by a company, Suria Strategic Energy Sources Sdn Bhd, which is wholly-owned by the Finance Ministry, while the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau is the project’s engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contractor.

“With this key energy infrastructure project, Sabah will be able to move up the value chain and add value to local commodities and raw materials, thus reducing the state’s dependency on primary industries and creating employment for the people throughout the state and increasing their income,” he said. – November 8, 2017.