Sabah Water chief’s appointment unlawful, court rules
Tracy Patrick
-October 9, 2019 2:48 PM
Fmt
Amarjit Singh (right) signing his appointment letter as the Sabah Water Department director last year.
KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu High Court today declared the appointment of a non-civil servant as director of the Sabah Water Department as unlawful.
It said the appointment of Amarjit Singh contravened Section 3 of the Water Supply Enactment 2003 which states that senior posts must on
Amarjit is the secretary of the Putatan Warisan division.
He was detained in 2017 by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) together with party president Shafie Apdal, now the chief minister.
He was freed on RM15,000 bail after spending six days in MACC custody.
When contacted, Yong said he would wait for the next course of action by the state government, adding that the state attorney-general’s chambers had not asked for a stay of the ruling.
“Amarjit should not turn up for work until the issue is settled,” he told FMT.
Amarjit was appointed to the post in August last year, some two months after Warisan took over the Sabah state government.
Since taking office, he has cancelled two crucial water supply projects in Tawau and Lahad Datu in Sabah’s east coast.
The water department also terminated several water concessionaires, resulting in massive lawsuits against the state government.
Amarjit was recently awarded the Datuk title in conjunction with the 66th birthday of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri.
Amarjit Singh (right) signing his appointment letter as the Sabah Water Department director last year.KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu High Court today declared the appointment of a non-civil servant as director of the Sabah Water Department as unlawful.
It said the appointment of Amarjit Singh contravened Section 3 of the Water Supply Enactment 2003 which states that senior posts must on
Amarjit is the secretary of the Putatan Warisan division.
He was detained in 2017 by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) together with party president Shafie Apdal, now the chief minister.
He was freed on RM15,000 bail after spending six days in MACC custody.
When contacted, Yong said he would wait for the next course of action by the state government, adding that the state attorney-general’s chambers had not asked for a stay of the ruling.
“Amarjit should not turn up for work until the issue is settled,” he told FMT.
Amarjit was appointed to the post in August last year, some two months after Warisan took over the Sabah state government.
Since taking office, he has cancelled two crucial water supply projects in Tawau and Lahad Datu in Sabah’s east coast.
The water department also terminated several water concessionaires, resulting in massive lawsuits against the state government.
Amarjit was recently awarded the Datuk title in conjunction with the 66th birthday of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri.
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