KOTA KINABALU :DAP Sabah Chairman, Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe has questioned the management, supervision, and accountability of the toilet upgrade project at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), following repeated site visits which revealed persistent defects even after the facilities were officially certified as completed.
Phoong said that despite raising concerns on several occasions over the unsatisfactory workmanship, the airport operator has failed to take effective action to rectify or improve the situation, describing this as a clear case of management failure.
“Based on what I have personally observed on the ground, the overall workmanship is not only unreasonable, but highly questionable. This is made worse by the fact that netizens are now openly questioning the project, pointing out that each toilet carries an average upgrade cost of about RM400,000, yet continues to exhibit obvious defects,” he said.
Phoong stressed that public scrutiny is fully justified.
“Netizens have every right to question government projects. When each toilet costs around RM400,000 to upgrade, regardless of the technical breakdown, the public is entitled to facilities that reflect quality, comfort, and even world-class standards. What we are seeing instead is a series of defects that should never exist in a project costing tens of millions of ringgit,” he said.
He revealed that although several toilet facilities have been officially listed as completed, inspections found uneven and poorly laid tiles, rough and careless finishing, loose or improperly installed fixtures, water seepage issues, malfunctioning fittings, and overall workmanship that fails to meet even basic public facility standards.
“What is most alarming is that these defects are found in facilities that have already been certified as completed. This not only points to problems with the contractor’s workmanship, but more seriously exposes potential weaknesses or failures in the supervision, inspection, and approval mechanisms,” he added.
According to recent reports, the government is upgrading 26 toilet facilities at KKIA in stages, involving a total allocation of RM11.8 million. Sabah News reported that 20 toilets have been listed as completed, while the remaining six are expected to be finished by April or May this year.
However, Phoong emphasised that he has raised questions and concerns over the quality of these works multiple times, yet has not seen comprehensive or effective corrective action, with similar defects continuing to reappear across different toilet facilities.
“This is not a new issue, and it is certainly not the first time these problems have been highlighted. When the same defects are repeatedly exposed but no corrective action follows — especially in a project involving such a large amount of public funds — this level of negligence is completely unacceptable,” he said.
Phoong said he has formally raised the matter with Minister of Transport, Anthony Loke, and noted that the Minister has expressed his commitment to personally look into the matter and ensure that appropriate follow-up action is taken. He believes that Loke will ensure that MAHB will take responsibility for this.
At the same time, Phoong stressed that as the airport operator and implementing authority, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) must bear primary responsibility for the project.
“The key issue now is whether there were serious flaws in the contractor selection process, and how facilities with clear defects were inspected, approved, and certified as completed. MAHB must answer how public facilities costing hundreds of thousands of ringgit each were allowed to be handed over in this condition,” he said.
Phoong insisted that MAHB must fully rectify all defects, conduct a thorough audit of the project, and clearly establish accountability, warning that failure to act decisively would further erode public confidence in public infrastructure projects.
He added that this issue is especially serious as KKIA is Sabah’s most important international gateway, and its construction quality, management standards, and public image must not be compromised.-pr/BNN
