Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said he found out on social media that higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir had been greeted at UMS yesterday by students complaining about poor water supply.

“I’m not sure (why the issue hasn’t been resolved),” Anwar said at the finance ministry’s monthly assembly here.

“I remember very well that I went there last year and approved (the allocation). Maybe the project takes time. I don’t want to blame (anyone), I just want a detailed report on what happened.

“There is a disconnect between approval (for projects) and their implementation on the ground.”

Anwar added that Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican had been instructed to ask the higher education ministry’s secretary-general for updates and to find out what UMS had done to address the matter.

During a trip to Kota Kinabalu on May 31 last year, Anwar said the federal government would channel RM3 million to the state government “in the next few days” to resolve UMS’s water woes.

Zambry announced an additional allocation of RM2 million to UMS for the same purpose during his trip to the Sabah capital yesterday.