KUALA LUMPUR – Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRE) Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has denied “slanderous allegations” made by Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, recently.
In a statement today, Nik Nazmi, who addressed Chegubard’s allegations that flood mitigation plans (RTB) under the NRE contained elements of corruption, said that it is not the first time that the latter has issued “wild” and “baseless” accusations.
“He (Chegubard) has lost several suits because he was proven to have slandered.
“His allegations are baseless and clearly show that he does not understand government procurement processes and government budget allocation,” he said
Nik Nazmi further described Chegubard’s claims that the RTB worth RM16.6 billion, involved companies and unknown individuals receiving commissions as a proxy for the minister as unfounded and ill-intended.
“The (Madani) government has reevaluated proposals for high-priority flood mitigation plans by focusing on critical areas with a ceiling allocation for all 33 RTB projects set by the Finance Ministry (MoF) at RM11.8 billion, not RM16.6 billion as alleged.”
Nearly all government RTB projects at present, Nik Nazmi said, are at the tender stage, with acceptance letters (SST) issued for 19 projects so far.
“There has not been any budget allocated for development expenditure so far.”
“The government’s RTB goes through a strict procurement process involving the governance of the (MoF) and the procurement board, which I am not involved with,” he said.
Nik Nazmi added that he will be pursuing civil action against Chegubard in the near future, following his allegations.
Yesterday, Chegubard lodged a police report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters claiming that there was bribery involving Nik Nazmi, a cosmetic company and a staff at a local government to obtain a flood mitigation project.
He claimed that the government had cancelled a RTB worth RM7 billion that was awarded via direct negotiations by the previous administration for re-evaluation.
The RTB, he claimed, is part of the RM15 billion budget to tackle floods.
Despite the re-evaluation of the RTB to reduce the cost, Chegubard claimed the allocation for the said RTB had increased to RM16 billion due to bribery involved. – December 21, 2023