The Malaysian Insight

FORMER Johor Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin has slammed his successor, Osman Sapian for making false accusations against him over the building of religious schools in the state.

He said Osman’s claims that the previous Barisan Nasional state government had failed to deliver on 121 schools were false as the projects had been completed on time.

“I refute the statement. It is incomplete, inaccurate and its intention is to soil the name of the previous state administration,” Khaled said in a statement today.

The Umno vice-president said that during his term, the state had built 77 religious schools.

“The 77 schools have already been completed. The handing over of keys is being done in stages.

“The 18 schools that were in bad condition have been taken over and rebuilt.

“The state government had also planned to build another 30 schools… these projects going smoothly,” Khaled said.

Osman, of Bersatu, had also said that the then BN government used Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ) to foot a RM240 million bill for construction costs.

Khaled said there was nothing wrong with using KPRJ as it was a subsidiary of the state government.

“The payment of RM240 million by KPRJ is because it is a state-linked company. This decision was made taking into consideration the importance of all parties and was made professionally and transparently.

“Are we not indirectly giving returns to KPRJ and the state of Johor?” Khaled asked.

Osman had also said that the new Pakatan Harapan government had to take over the 121 unbuilt schools and 18 incomplete projects in order to not let them become “white elephant” projects. – August 21, 2018.