Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah state-owned SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd (SMJE) is not the same as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), says Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
At yesterday's state assembly sitting, Masidi said the difference between SMJE and 1MDB was that no one in the government pocketed any money with SMJE paying Sabah International Petroleum's (SIP) debts through sukuk bonds.
"Why can't SMJ (Energy) help (pay SIP debts)? It just declared an audited profit of RM259 million. Don't worry, we are not 1MDB," he said in response to Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Senallang-Warisan).
"With 1MDB, the money was stolen. Did we steal the RM900 million? No, because all the banks verified that they received our payments," he said.
Masidi said SMJE was helping SIP as it could leverage the state government's financial strength.
Previously, Shafie, a former Sabah chief minister, compared SMJE to 1MDB.
Masidi, who is also SMJE chairman, said the new board and management of Sabah Development Bank Berhad have been able to resolve the bulk of loans by government-linked companies, including SIP's.
"SMJE acquired SIP and used the cheap sukuk fund to settle RM700 million SIP debt to Sabah Development Bank, thus achieving interest savings of RM60 million for 2024 alone.
"At the same time, this debt payment allowed Sabah Development Bank to settle its bond repayment obligations without rolling over, resulting in RM35 million interest saving per year."