KUCHING: Sarawak Pakatan Harapan chairman Chong Chieng Jen should have learnt how to differentiate between being forced to agree over a decision and imaginary claims.
Petra Jaya MP Fadillah Yusof said while it was true that the Sarawak government had signed an agreement to terminate the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) for the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak project, Chong should have clarified with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng over his imaginary cost savings of RM3.1 billion.
“Chong must learn how to differentiate between Sarawak being forced to agree to a decision versus a federal minister plucking figures out of thin air to claim imaginary savings,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Citing the Works Minister Baru Bian’s announcement on the original target cost was RM16.48 billion during the Parliament assembly in March last year, Fadillah said the PDP was able to further reduce the cost while maintaining its original completion date at the end of year 2021.
“Subsequent to that, the cost has been reduced to RM15.13 billion via cost optimisation and efficiency savings while maintaining the original project completion date.
“Until its cancellation, there has never been any accusation that the PDP was late in its project delivery or had gone above budget,” he clarified, whilst advising the DAP Sarawak leader to not be confused with his master’s imaginary cost saving figure.
Stressing that the changes and termination of the PDP model would only put the project at risk of being delayed and incurring more costs, the former Works Minister said Chong would be equally responsible for such consequences.
“The Pan Borneo Sarawak project now runs a real risk of being delayed from its original targeted date of end 2021.
“And when that happens, all Sarawakians should know that Chong is equally responsible,” he added.
