Sabah MCA leader raps Liew for comment on Water Department case

Sabah MCA Batu Sapi division chief Chew Kok Woh says de facto law minister should wait for the outcome of the appeal.

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah MCA leader has taken de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong to task for his comment on the appointment of Amarjit Singh as the Sabah Water Department director, which has been deemed by the courts as illegal.

The party’s Batu Sapi division chief, Chew Kok Woh, said Liew should have refrained from speaking up on the case or issued a statement because he is the minister in charge of law.

He said Liew should not have come out openly to defend his party member, Amarjit, who is the Putatan Warisan division secretary.

He hoped Liew’s statement will not have any bearing on the appeal against the court’s decision.

“Liew should just have said he will leave it to the learned judge and wait for the appeal decision,” Chew said, adding that the judiciary system must be free from any political or government interference.

Liew had said yesterday the Sabah government had filed an appeal against the recent ruling by the Kota Kinabalu High Court that Amarjit’s appointment in August last year was illegal.

He said while he respected the court’s decision, the appeal process should be allowed to proceed so the matter could be settled as quickly as possible.

In his ruling, High Court judge Ravinthran Paramaguru said Amarjit’s appointment went against Section 3 of the state’s Water Supply Enactment 2003, which states that only civil servants should be given senior positions at the Sabah Water Department.

Liew contended that Section 3 (2) of the law might not apply to Amarjit.

Yesterday, Sabah Progressive Party president Yong Teck Lee also questioned Liew’s legal standing in the case.

Yong and Tawau businessman Pang Thou Chung had filed the suit against Amarjit’s appointment, claiming it was in violation of the law and that he was appointed due to his position in Warisan, a party in the Sabah ruling coalition. - FMT