KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Zuraida Kamaruddin has denied all knowledge of the two projects awarded through direct negotiations by her ministry under Pakatan Harapan (PH) said to be worth around RM170.8 million, as revealed by the Finance Ministry yesterday.
Zuraida, who also held the housing and local government (KPKT) portfolio when in the PH Cabinet, conceded that despite being the minister, she was kept in the dark over the two deals and promised investigations into the matter.
“I would like to stress that the two projects approved by KPKT, during my tenure as minister during the previous administration, were done without my knowledge.
“Therefore, I would like to give my assurance that KPKT will carry out investigations into the issue that has surfaced,” she said in a statement today.
Her statement came after Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz released a list of the 101 projects that were awarded through direct negotiations under the PH government, where KPKT were listed fifth in terms of project value.
The list was released after Tengku Zafrul had made the claim in his winding-up speech on the Temporary Measures for Government Financing (Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)) Bill 2020 on Monday, triggering calls by PH for the list to be released.
A total of RM6.61 billion worth of projects were awarded, with the Transport Ministry topping the list with RM4.48 billion worth of deals, the bulk of which was the RM4.47 billion Klang Valley double-tracking project that was revived from Barisan Nasional administration, with significant savings.
