Public money must benefit people, says PM Najib

Public money should be used in a way that really benefits the people, says Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. He says it is for this reason that the government will look at projects that constitute a high priority for the people. "So the government is conscious of this, and hopefully we will be able to meet the expectations of the people," he says in his blog www.1malaysia.com.my under the title "Responding to Comments - Government Spending for Public Programmes". Najib was responding to a member of the public who had commented that the government should make a proper Return on Investment (ROI) evaluation - in terms of social value, human capital, health, etc - before allocating a budget to any programme because if the government has proper justification, nobody can question it. "I fully agree with you that we have to spend wisely and prudently because we are using public money," Najib says in his response. For example, Najib says, the government has embarked on the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) and the six NKRAs that it has identified are, according to the government's assessment, areas of priority, as inspired by the people. He says the people want to see eradication of poverty, better public transport, reduction in crime and corruption, quality education, and the people also want the government to help the disadvantaged groups. "So, these are the areas that will receive the highest priority under the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015)," he says. At the same time, Najib says that the government also has to get the economy moving, and for this reason has decided on a Facilitation Fund to the tune of RM20 billion under the 10th Malaysia Plan. He says that hopefully the government will be able to act as an enabler for the private sector to invest. "By using a comparatively small amount of public money, we can manage to trigger a much higher level of private sector investment," says Najib. - Bernama