THE Sabah opposition is questioning the appointment of a private sector engineer as the new Sabah Water Department director.

Apas assemblyman Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said the state government could have promoted someone from the state civil service but had instead chosen to appoint Amarjit, who was once investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“This must be a slap to the faces of the existing government officers.

“Sabahans are also talking about it. I would feel ashamed myself as it did not follow procedures,” he said when debating the Supply Bill 2018 tabled by the Chief Minister Shafie Apdal at the state assembly today.

He noted Amarjit, a Parti Warisan Putatan division leader, had previously been detained by graft busters on October 17 last year during the probe against Shafie over alleged the embezzlement of RM1.5 billion meant for various rural projects in Sabah.

However, deputy speaker Ahmad Abdul Rahman ordered Nizam to refrain from talking about the subject, saying it’s beginning to become a repetitive political topic.

Ahmad also advised Nizam to word his sentences in a polite fashion, saying that detention by the MACC doesn’t mean any charges had been brought against Amarjit.

“Besides he is not in the state assembly at this present moment and it is not fair for us to talk about him when he obviously can’t defend for himself” he said.

Amarjit’s appointment was also questioned by Tambunan assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan, who asked whether it was in accordance to the public service scheme.

“This is a question of integrity, as brought up by Apas just now, as the director is being investigated by MACC.

“I was also probed by MACC before but the matter is settled,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shafie said a huge allocation was needed to restructure the Sabah Water Department and added that a RM164 million supplementary budget was needed for the purpose in his winding up speech.

“Most of the money being applied are meant to pay-off overdue bills and projects that has been accumulated by the department.

“We can’t use normal methods to restructure the department, which has a big problem.

“Because, this department, as we are all aware, is a highly corrupted department. It’s not only at the top but until the grassroots,” he said.

At present, he said engineers in the department were not able to endorse any documents for payment as many are still under the MACC probe. – August 13, 2018.