Chong slams Fadillah for making the baseless allegation.

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Instead of making baseless allegation against the Minister of Finance, Fadillah should first question why the Sarawak State Government agrees to the termination of the Pan Borneo Highway Project Delivery Partner (PDP) Agreement.

On 6-2-2020, at the Ministry of Finance office at Putrajaya, the Sarawak State Government was represented by the State Secretary together with the top management of Sarawak Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) to sign the termination of the PDP Agreement while the Federal Government was represented by the Ministry of Finance.

The rationale for the termination of the PDP Agreement is that, by removing the said Project Delivery Partner (PDP), it will reduce the costs of implementation of the whole Pan Borneo Highway project in Sarawak from an estimated RM21.9 billion to RM18.8 billion, a saving of RM3.1 billion for the Government.

This savings of RM3.1 billion will then be channeled back to Sarawak for the other projects for the benefits of Sarawak.

To appreciate how the savings can be achieved with the termination of the PDP Agreement, one must know the amount payable by the Government to the PDP under the said Agreement.  Under the said Agreement, the PDP will be paid a fee of 5.5% of the total project costs.  In addition, the PDP will also be fully reimbursed on all its expenses, including paying its employees’ salaries and allowances and all other expenses incurred.

That is why, upon the removal of the PDP and reverting the implementation of the project to the conventional method, the Government can save an estimated RM3.1 billion.  Not only will the Government have the saving of the 5.5% fee, but the Government will also save from the excessive reimbursement of the expenses of the PDP.

As to why the previous BN Government entered into such a ridiculously expensive and excessive PDP Agreement, Fadillah Yusof as the then Minister of Works owes Sarawakian and Malaysian an explanation.

Fadillah’s claim that the estimated costs under the PDP Agreement will only be RM15.13 billion is not only a baseless accusation against Lim Guan Eng, but also an assault against the GPS State Government.  If it was true that under the PDP Agreement, the total costs of the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sarawak would only be RM15.13 billion as claimed by Fadillah, why then would the GPS State Government agree to the termination of the said PDP Agreement and decide on replacing it with the conventional method which will incur an estimated cost of RM18.8 billion.

Therefore, before Fadillah starts making baseless accusations against the Federal Government, my advice to him is to seek clarification from his own GPS State Government.

One thing he has to bear in mind is that the termination of the PDP Agreement was done with the agreement of the State Government and was signed by the Sarawak State Secretary in the presence of all national media. Has Fadillah Yusof fallen out of line with his party leadership in the GPS State administration?

Instead of making the baseless allegation against the Minister of Finance, Fadillah should first question why the Sarawak State Government agrees to the termination of the Pan Borneo Highway Project Delivery Partner (PDP) Agreement.

On 6-2-2020, at Ministry of Finance office at Putrajaya, the Sarawak State Government was represented by the State Secretary together with the top management of Sarawak Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) to sign the termination of the PDP Agreement while the Federal Government was represented by the Ministry of Finance.

The rationale for the termination of the PDP Agreement is that, by removing the said Project Delivery Partner (PDP), it will reduce the costs of implementation of the whole Pan Borneo Highway project in Sarawak from an estimated RM21.9 billion to RM18.8 billion, a saving of RM3.1 billion for the Government.

This savings of RM3.1 billion will then be channeled back to Sarawak for the other projects for the benefits of Sarawak.

To appreciate how the savings can be achieved with the termination of the PDP Agreement, one must know the amount payable by the Government to the PDP under the said Agreement.  Under the said Agreement, the PDP will be paid a fee of 5.5% of the total project costs.  In addition, the PDP will also be fully reimbursed on all its expenses, including paying its employees’ salaries and allowances and all other expenses incurred.

That is why, upon the removal of the PDP and reverting the implementation of the project to the conventional method, the Government can save an estimated RM3.1 billion.  Not only will the Government have the saving of the 5.5% fee, the Government will also save from the excessive reimbursement of the expenses of the PDP.

As to why the previous BN Government entered into such a ridiculously expensive and excessive PDP Agreement, Fadillah Yusof as the then Minister of Works owes Sarawakian and Malaysian an explanation.

Fadillah’s claim that the estimated costs under the PDP Agreement will only be RM15.13 billion is not only a baseless accusation against Lim Guan Eng, but also an assault against the GPS State Government.  If it was true that under the PDP Agreement, the total costs of the Pan Borneo Highway project in Sarawak would only be RM15.13 billion as claimed by Fadillah, why then would the GPS State Government agree to the termination of the said PDP Agreement and decide on replacing it with the conventional method which will incur an estimated cost of RM18.8 billion.

Therefore, before Fadillah starts making baseless accusation against the Federal Government, my advice to him is to seek clarification from his own GPS State Government.

One thing he has to bear in mind is that the termination of the PDP Agreement was done with the agreement of the State Government and was signed by the Sarawak State Secretary in the presence of all national media. Has Fadillah Yusof fallen out of line with his party leadership in the GPS State administration?