The Sabah government has confirmed the project proposal from a contractor to handle Non Revenue Water (NRW) projects in the state.

aSpeaking at the state legislative assembly, state works minister Datuk Ir Shahelmey Yahya said a project proposal from Tegas Potensi Sdn Bhd do exist and currently is in progress and on a proposal to perform a feasibility study.

“However, so far, there is no binding contract between the state government and Tegas Potensi Sdn Bhd,” he said, responding to a question from Tanjung Aru MP Junz Wong.

“Therefore, Tanjung Aru’s statement is inaccurate.”

Wong had questioned whether the finance ministry was aware of a proposal for an RM1.5 billion deal for concessionaire project by Tegas Potensi Sdn Bhd for a period of 15 years.

Following Shahelmey’s reply, Wong said his concern was that the company in question can be linked to Teo Chee Kong’s family and he holds evidences of it.

“When we take a deeper look at this company, we can link it to the Teo family.

"I am quite sure of this. If you want me to, I can present (how Tegas Potensi and the Teo family are linked) here. But if not then it's ok and since it's only a proposal then I'm glad," he said.

Teo was one of two key individuals who were first arrested in 2016 by the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission (MACC) in a case which has been infamously dubbed the Sabah Watergate Scandal. However, he was eventually acquitted and later became a star witness for the prosecution.

There have been allegations that Teo’s testimonies during the Watergate trial have been motivated by self-interest. Teo has rejected these claims.

Earlier, Wong had said that allegedly, the project was being financed through the state-owned Sabah Credit Corporation (SCC).

He also asked to be informed of the status of the project.

Previously, Wong, who is also a Parti Warisan (Warisan) vice-president, had urged the Sabah government to be more transparent regarding an alleged RM1.5 billion water project.

During the debate of the Sabah Budget 2025, Wong had noted that the project allegedly involved Tegas Potensi and would be carried out over a period of 15 years.

“I want to find out about what I suspect to be a bigger scandal than the last water scandal,” he had said in the state assembly, referring to the Sabah Watergate Scandal.

Wong’s probing of the matter comes at the back of rumours that there have been attempts to recreate a scheme similar to that which led to the discovery of the scandal.

In September, Warisan issued a press statement claiming that checks with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) had shown that two concessionaires linked to Teo were awarded 20-year contracts to handle the maintenance of several WTP in Sabah.

Warisan eventually terminated these contracts in 2019 after finding that maintenance work had not been carried out despite payments having been made.

The concessionaires were Yuda Water Sdn Bhd, owned by Teo’s brother, and Sahabat Megajuta Sdn Bhd,
owned by another of Teo’s siblings.

In 2016, MACC arrested both Teo, who was the Sabah Water Department (JANS) deputy director at the time, and the department’s then-director Awang Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib.

Awang remains in trial awaiting the court’s decision.