Yong questions Liew’s role in Sabah Water Department court case
The former chief minister says the Sabah ministers had no comments on the High Court decision that declared the appointment as illegal.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee has questioned the Sabah government’s silence over the illegal appointment of Amarjit Singh as the state Water Department (JANS) director, as declared by the courts.
Yong, a former chief minister, also took aim at de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong for speaking up about the case instead of the Sabah ministers.
“Why is the state government maintaining a deafening silence on this issue? Where are the Sabah ministers in charge?
“What is the legal standing in a federal minister handling the case of a Sabah government court case?
“The federal minister is a total stranger in the Sabah Water Department lawsuit. Is there no government in Sabah?” he said in a statement here today.
Earlier, Liew said the Sabah government had filed an appeal against the recent ruling by the Kota Kinabalu High Court that Amarjit’s appointment as director in August last year was illegal.
He said while he respected the court’s decision, the appeal process should be allowed to proceed so that the matter could be settled as quickly as possible.
Judge Ravinthran Paramaguru had ruled that 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 JANS.
Liew contended that Section 3 (2) of the law might not apply to Amarjit.
Yong had filed the suit, together with Tawau businessman Pang Thou Chung, claiming Amarjit’s appointment was in violation of the law and that he was appointed due to his position in Warisan, which is a party in the ruling coalition in Sabah. Amarjit is Putatan Warisan division secretary.
Yong said Liew’s contention that Section 3(2) might not affect Amarjit was “laughable” and a “joke”.
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“It seems like a flimsy and desperate attempt to keep an illegal director on the job,” he added.