PH did nothing about SESB takeover, says federal aide

A political tug-of-war has ensued over Sabah’s electricity company. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah is the latest to criticise the Warisan-led government over the stalling of the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd takeover bid.

PBS Youth chief Christoper Mandut, who is an aide to a federal minister, said it was Pakatan Harapan who had not followed through after the 2018 general election.

He said caretaker Chief Minister Shafie Apdal’s claim that the takeover was disrupted after Perikatan Nasional took over at the federal level in March was baseless.

Mandut, who is political secretary to Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Minister Maximus Ongkili, said Shafie should stick to the facts.

“The fact is that the federal government is still waiting for further details from the state on matters pertaining to costing, financial capacity of the state and action on required laws needed to be put in place.”

He said negotiations on the takeover began before the 2018 general election.

“The then Barisan Nasional federal cabinet, of which Ongkili was a member as energy minister, decided a month before the elections to return SESB to the Sabah government under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 action plan,” he said.

“Unfortunately, BN lost the elections. It was the PH government which did not do anything to pursue the matter of handing over,” he said.

On Wednesday Shafie claimed that negotiations began during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure as prime minister and everything had been going well until the change of federal government.

However, Mandut contended that hardly any action was taken by the PH and Warisan governments in the past two years.

“Ongkili was even consulted privately in his personal capacity by officers from the Sabah Economic Planning Unit and SESB to get input on what BN’s plans and strategies were for eventual handover,” he claimed.

“With all the political instability in Sabah over the last six months, the federal government has stated that further evidence is required to prove the capacity of the state government to take over the assets and management of SESB.” - FMT