PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has accused the unity government of playing up controversial flood mitigation projects to damage his integrity as the former environment and water minister.

He told The Malaysian Insight his ministry was only the implementing agency for the projects, saying it was not involved in the direct negotiations for the contracts. It was the Finance Ministry which selected the contractors for the job, he said.

Tuan Ibrahim was talking about the RM15 billion worth of flood mitigation projects approved by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, which were halted by the unity government because of the costly contracts which were awarded through direct negotiations.

The projects were announced last year by then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to counter the severe, recurrent floods in several states.

Prior to the November general election, PKR deputy president Rafizi Ibrahim had questioned the methods by which the contracts were awarded, causing Tuan Ibrahim to sue him for defamation.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has ordered the contracts to be re-tendered by June.

The contracts are for flood mitigation work in Sungai Johor, Kota Tinggi, Johor; construction of the Sungai Klang-Sungai Rasau dual-function reservoir in Selangor; and the Sungai Golok Integrated river basin development (phase 3) in Kelantan.

TMI: Tell us more about the flood mitigation projects.

Tuan Ibrahim: The flood issues have been around for a long time. As a minister, I was informed that Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah must anticipate floods.

What solution do we want to have? I spoke with the (then) prime minister Ismail Sabri and he agreed that we needed to speed up the projects.

RM15 billion was allocated to resolve the outstanding floods that have been an issue since the 9th Malaysia Plan. But after three Malaysian Plans, the projects were still not implemented because there was no money.

If we continued to wait, we would lose RM6 or 7 billion (due to floods) every year. So the prime minister tasked the Ministry of Environment and Water to look into the projects and see which should be given priority.

The Irrigation and Drainage Department held a workshop. We looked at all the details. We identified 38 projects that were urgent. We did a value assessment, got the estimated costs but it was the MOF which managed the selection of contractors. They have the contractor’s data, performance records, and they know everything. The Environment and Water Ministry was only the implementation agency.

We were not involved in the selection of the contractors. In any case, the projects were only at the proposal stage when parliament was dissolved. The projects could not continue except for the purchasing of equipment for the early flood warning system. That has been installed around the country.

There was a flood project in Baling, Kedah. The Sabo dam was an immediate project and that’s it.

Other than those, the projects did not continue and we did nothing else. The contractors were not yet selected. I came to understand that the MOF had a number of proposals from contractors. That’s it. But there were no appointments; there were no discussions with the contractor because parliament was dissolved.

TMI: What were your thoughts when the prime minister cancelled the flood mitigation projects?

Tuan Ibrahim: When the prime minister announced the cancellation of the projects, I felt it was strange because the projects had not even begun. For instance, phase 3 of the Sungai Golok flood mitigation project. Even phase 2 of the project was still in the process of selecting contractors and the designs for phase 3 were not there. So how could the projects be cancelled?

The second issue was when Anwar said that RM2 billion would be saved from the cancellation. As I have said in parliament, based on my experience, when a project is cancelled, we are delaying the project and hence the costs will rise. I can assure you that the costs will go up.

Let’s say there is a one-year delay and (in that time) there are floods… now how much that will cost? We will have two losses now. Losses due to project delays and losses caused by natural disasters because the projects were not implemented. We are not profiting. We will lose more in the end.

I don’t care which contractors are chosen because I personally don’t know any contractors. I am not directly involved. Anwar said he wants to have an open tender. Okay, no problem.

An open tender process will take almost a year. That is the issue. Anwar has said that if there are direct negotiations, there will be irregularities.

I think irregularities exist when people are not honest, regardless of the system. If one is not honest, one will swindle. There are loopholes everywhere.

For example, if we have an open tender, there will be cartels. If we make a selective tender, the company may have a different name but the people may be the same. There will be room for exploitation if we are not honest.

Let it be ministers, deputies or even officials, everyone must be honest about the selection of contractors. There should be no deviation. Do not take advantage of the situation. If we are honest, any system is good.

Three systems are allowed by the Treasury. The prime minister has talked about the flood mitigation project in Segamat. He wants to get it done immediately. He is aiming for July.

I can assure you that if it is to be done in July, it cannot be through open tender. Open tenders take time. At the very least, the tender process will take six months and the selection (of contractors) probably another six months. So the process could take a year but Anwar said he wanted to start in July.

TMI: If the projects are not problematic, why are they now an issue?

Tuan Ibrahim: This issue is being played up because they (unity government) want to damage our integrity.

I helmed the Environment and Water Ministry so they are trying to make it seem as though I chose the contractors. But the ministry was only the implementing agency.

The selection of contractors for the RM15 billion projects was completely in the hands of the MOF. The implementing agency only provides the documentation for selection.

Everything else, including the decision for direct negotiation, was up to the MOF. I was not involved. During the three years I was at the ministry, I was never involved in any project or tender.

I left it completely to the special committee. I told the secretary-general of the ministry to handle and chair the project.

I told him to work with the other agencies to pick the best. I was sure they would do a very good job so I did not interfere. – March 16, 2023.