KOTA KINABALU, Dec 10 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal today suggested that the Auditor-General's 2017 report on Sabah's financial standing could have been tampered with after it emerged that the state's accounts were in order.
The Parti Warisan Sabah leader said that the auditor-general’s department's declaration that there was no issue with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund suggests that the numbers could have been adjusted to make it appear well balanced.
“Not everything can be picked out by the auditor right? How can we be sure if not everything is laid out? How many agencies have suffered losses?
“How many people know that we have to pay RM132 million for the chief minister’s building’s for a five year lease. On top of that there’s a RM2 million annual maintenance fee. That’s a lot. At that rate, it’s better to build a new building,” he said to reporters after launching a conference for district officers here.
“There’s a lot more I can tell you. We nvested over RM700 million in Benta Wawasan, now there’s only RM25 million. A lot more …” he said.
Shafie was asked to comment on the latest A-G’s report which cleared former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman of mismanagement of state funds.
Based on the A-G’s report, which was released last Monday, the state’s consolidated fund increased and there was a surplus, resulting in an increase in the accumulated balance, revenue collection and operating expenditure.
Previously, Shafie had said that the BN government had not been forthcoming about the state’s financial status, claiming the state’s RM4 billion reserves were non-existent.
Shafie however said he was not disputing the accuracy of the A-G’s report.
“I’m not saying it was changed, but that’s what I’ve heard. That’s what others are saying...if the A-G’s report on 1MDB can be tampered with then… you know, anything is possible,” he said.
Musa was chief minister of Sabah from 2003 to 2018, before Shafie edged him out of office last May.
