JKR Sarawak Spends RM50,000 On Simple Wooden Jetty And Netizens Are Furious
The project was to take three months but the contractor finished it in under one month.
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[Update: JKR Sarawak has issued a statement defending the cost of the project. Read more HERE.]
READ MORE: RM50,000 Jetty: Sarawak Govt Says It’s So Expensive Due To Crocodiles
The recent completion of a simple wooden jetty at Kampung Mutap in Bekenu, Sarawak has caused an uproar.
Netizens are sceptical at the quality of the work produced.
Photos of the wooden jetty was originally posted on social media by JKR Sarawak.
The simple built of the jetty immediately caught the eyes of netizens, sparking allegations of cronyism.
Cronyism is when someone hires a friend to do a job, whether or not she’s the best candidate.
You’re most likely to find the word cronyism in political discussions.
50k for that…..yesss 50k…RM50,000 pic.twitter.com/CA1xqOnR5V
— Tuai Rumah Kitai (@TuaiRumahKitai) April 10, 2022
For The People
The handover ceremony of the completed project was held on 6 April.
The project started on 7 March, and was completed way ahead of schedule on 1 April. This jetty was built to replace the damaged old jetty that could no longer be used.
Built under JKR Miri’s supervision, the project’s scope of work is the construction of a jetty measuring 1m wide x 15m long.
JKR Sarawak said the jetty will make it easier for the residents of Kampung Mutap to carry out daily activities.
It is touted to be especially useful during floods and high tides because the villagers will use the river route as an alternative route to the Bekenu Market.
The contractor, Bukit Balat Company, is listed as a state government contractor with its office in Miri.
Project Deemed Not Up To Mark
Netizens have been questioning the breakdown of the project cost.
They believed the jetty could have been better built given the amount of money allocated.
Using their own calculation, some claimed that such a jetty should cost around RM5,000 and not more.
Others made sarcastic remarks that the jetty looked flimsy on the outside but it’s made of concrete inside and should last until the end of time.
Netizens also cry foul that cronyism is thriving, whereby politically connected business people are said to prosper by using defective material and skimping on quality.
Netizens referenced past and current government projects that failed to deliver without proper explanation, despite the massive amount of taxpayers’ money involved.
HOW TO MAKE rm6Bil THE EASY WAY!
— James Chin (@jameschin110) June 3, 2021
In 2011, Najib BN Govt approved RM9bil to build 6 littoral combat ships(LCS) from Boustead Naval Shipyard, a GLC. 10yrs later, RM6B paid but not a single LCS delivered. Nobody responsible. #MalaysiaBoleh
Must read.https://t.co/W71zGsUNGr pic.twitter.com/heXqHBopU0
It doesn’t help that Malaysia ranks highly on the crony capitalism index.
In a global survey by London-based weekly publication The Economist a several years back, Malaysia was ranked as having the second-highest percentage of billionaires’ wealth coming from cronyism.
Malaysia No.2 in the world n world champ in per capita terms accord 2The Economist crony-capitalism index 7 May 2016 pic.twitter.com/6E9x8uFHDW
— Lim Guan Eng (@guanenglim) May 11, 2016
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