Natural Resources and Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has denied slanderous allegations of corruption issued by Badrul Hisham Shaharin (Chegubard) who claimed there are elements of corruption in the Flood Mitigation Plan (RTB) managed by the Ministry.
The minister, in a statement today (Dec 21), said the cost of the projects had even shrunk, contrary to claims by the Bersatu leader that the costs of the projects had ballooned to over RM16 billion.
“It is not the first time that Chegubard has come up with wild baseless accusations. He has also lost several lawsuits because what he said was proven as slander. Similarly, Chegubard’s accusations are baseless, and show his lack of understanding of the procurement process and government budget allocation procedures.”
His (Chegubard’s) defamatory claims that RTB projects have reached up to RM16.6 billion and that there are unknown companies and individuals who obtain commissions as proxy to the Minister are totally false, baseless and malicious.
The government has re-evaluated high priority flood mitigation project proposals to prioritise critical areas with an overall ceiling development allocation to 33 RTB projects that have been set by the Ministry of Finance totalling RM11.8 billion, not RM16.6 billion.
“Almost all of the Government’s RTB projects this year are still going through the tender process and a total of 19 projects have been issued the relevant Letters of Acceptance. So far, no development has been set.
In addition, the Government’s RTB projects go through a transparent procurement process governed by the Ministry of Finance and tabled at various Board meetings, to which (Nik Nazmi) was not involved. “I vehemently deny the evil slander and will take legal action against him in the near future,” he added.
