Murray Hunter
Long past corruption rears its head
Apr 19, 2025
Students residing at the Uniciti campus at Sungai Chucuh have been without water for more than two weeks now. Internal water piping has prevented water reaching a number of the apartments of students, in some of the six apartment blocks on the campus.
Students are forced to haul dirty water delivered each day to the campus, where students have to carry this water as high as 5 stories in their respective apartment blocks in order to bath and cook.
Dirty water delivered daily.
There are reports that some of the students at the Uniciti campus have now gone on strike, as the management led by the vice chancellor Professor Zaliman Sauli has not been able to find and implement a solution for the student population.
Vice chancellor Professor Zaliman Sauli looking for a solution.
An investigation of the blockage by Perkhidmatan Air Negara, or National Water Commission (SPAN) found the lay inside the Uniciti campus itself, most probably due to pipes running through the buildings, installed by the contractor, just over a decade ago.
It took over a week for the management to make any official statement to the students.
Uniciti: A long history of ethical issues
The Uniciti campus was the brainchild of the first vice chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Perlis Prof Kamarudin Hussin, with a contractor Proven Holdings Sdn Bhd. At the same time, Unimap management was building their permanent campus at Puah. An Auditor General’s report noted that despite an allocation of RM438.64 million under the 8th Malaysian Plan, only 25% of UniMAP’s main campus plans were completed, with university management citing budget constraints. The report also flagged poor workmanship (e.g., cracking cement, inappropriate roads, and non-functioning equipment) and premature payments to contractors before contracts were fully negotiated.
Proven Holdings Sdn Bhd built the campus on a 15 year buy/lease agreement with Unimap Holdings Sdn Bhd, which now is the owner. contrary to the Education Ministry’s goal of universities generating income through hostel rentals. This deal was criticized as limiting UniMAP’s revenue potential.
The work undertaken in building Uniciti was shoddy. Restrooms didn’t have water basins to was hands with. Many concrete plains were just not straight. The buildings had many wear and tear issues, making maintenance costs high.
The UniCITI Alam project, particularly the Proven Group deal, stands out as a potential red flag due to its long-term financial burden on UniMAP and lack of ownership benefits. The Auditor General’s findings on premature contractor payments and poor workmanship further suggest either corrupt practices or severe oversight failures. While UniMAP’s recent anti-corruption seminar and the positive framing of UniCITI’s development in 2024 indicate efforts to improve, the absence of detailed follow-up on the Proven deal or independent investigations leaves room for skepticism.
Its most likely the current water problems are the result of cutting corners during the construction, together with poor maintenance.
Unimap was once in the news regularly for its achievements. However, Unimap today only seems to only make the news with tragedies like student deaths, poor student Wifi, and fires.