KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is taking drastic measures to recover money owed to Bank Pembangunan Sabah (SDBank) including appointing an official for the task.
Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said companies that have unpaid loans, especially those from the peninsula, would not be let off the hook until they settled arrears.
None of the companies had their debts written off so far, he said.
"We have appointed a new officer with a reputation akin to 'ah long' (loan shark) to recover all the money owed.
"We are not afraid to collect debt, even (if we have to resort to) ah long," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan - Senallang) during the question-and-answer session at the state legislative assembly sitting today.
Masidi said the state government was aware that some companies from the peninsula applied for loans here after failing to secure one at banks in other states.
"This should serve as a lesson for us as some companies from the peninsula would come here to secure loans; I don't understand this."
Earlier, Masidi said RM2.2 billion of debts were reported by SDBank as of the third quarter of this year.
Of the total, RM1.2 billion is the remaining debt owed by Sabah International Petroleum (SIP).
Following SIP's takeover by SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd, a total RM700 million of debt had been settled in the first phase, he said.