According to a Bernama report, Kedah menteri besar Sanusi Nor said all government projects must adhere to standard operating procedures and regulations stipulated by law.

“The contractor participated in an open tender and was selected through the open tender system, not appointed by the government.

“However, after winning the tender, certain issues arose and they failed to complete the work,” he told reporters.

Sanusi was responding to deputy energy transition and water transformation minister Akmal Nasrullah Nasir, who expressed his concern yesterday that the project had not shown any progress since July last year.

Akmal said during his third visit to the project site yesterday, he found none of the required components had been completed despite the project commencing in 2021.

Sanusi said the water treatment plant was not the only project facing issues with an errant contractor, as other projects, such as flood mitigation plans, have also encountered similar problems.