CORRUPTION Camouflaged

Money can be gotten in many ways and one way is to abuse the tendering system. In Malaysia and Sarawak, contractors who are nobody today can be somebody the next day after securing just one big government project which may run up to hundreds of millions. Road construction is where most of the money is. Stories of the “nobody” who made millions from just one deal, catapulting him or her to be “somebody” are always told in the coffee shops. They are all true. Such deals would normally involve the PKK Class “A” or CIDB G7 contractors.

It is quite normal for projects to be “sold” to a second party at 2/3 of the cost which is surely an indication of the price having been inflated in the first place. How does it work and how do they do it have always been interestingly asked by the rakyat. Unless you are familiar with procedures involved in tendering, you will never know how they are being manipulated to favour only cronies of the BN government. Of course politics has a hand. Sarawakians are not that foolish not to know at least what is happening in the award of these big tenders. Days of the 1980s are gone!

SCORE which is known by many as Project Ketua Menteri will see many millionaires becoming multi millionaires in Sarawak soon. You can safely bet that BN activists with some family members of the Ketua Menteri will grab a bigger piece of the cake. Others in the inner circles like state ministers from the component parties will scramble for what is left.

The whole cycle is vicious and smelly. If such unwarranted activities are not checked and checked quick by the Najib government, it can lead to the downfall of BN in Sarawak. Just watch!