Pakatan reps urge Khalid to loosen purse strings

After months of pressure on Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim from PKR not to be stingy in spending the state's growing cash reserves, DAP and PAS have joined the fray with a collective memorandum to Khalid.

The memorandum dated Oct 7, and sighted by Malaysiakini, is signed by representatives of all three Pakatan Rakyat component parties on behalf of Selangor's Backbenchers Club (BBC).

The memorandum appears to have been prompted by an Oct 3 briefing by the state financial officer on Selangor's budget for next year which raised red flags among the state assemblypersons.

The memorandum claims that the state government plans to slash the development expenditure of RM600 million by RM100 million.

The Selangor government had allegedly justified this to the BBC by saying that state agencies had failed to spend their allocations, with some only using up less than half of their allocations.

"The failure of (state) government agencies to meet their budget performance targets should be scrutinised. However, the state government should not use it as an excuse to reduce development expenditure as it will burden the rakyat," says the memorandum, which adds that development expenditure should instead be increased to RM800 million.

The memorandum lays out several areas for the state government to increase spending, among them:

• RM100 million for public housing;

• RM50 million for hill slope maintenance and stabilisation;

• RM50 million to upgrade Universiti Selangor;

• RM30 million for scholarships;

• RM10 million to upgrade WiFi services in key areas;

• Free bus services during peak hours;

• Increasing the annual state assemblyperson allocation from RM500,000 to RM800,000; and

• Additional allocations for the larger constituencies

Tight fist on spending

When contacted, Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San, who is a signatory to the memorandum, confirmed that the missive has been sent to the Selangor menteri besar.

The other two signatories are Selangor PAS chief and Meru representative Abdul Rani Osman and PKR deputy president and Bukit Antarabangsa representative Azmin Ali.

Lau (right) said Khalid's office has invited the BBC to hammer out the matter with the menteri besar tomorrow.

"The state budget has not been finalised yet and if we put up a concrete proposal, I'm sure the state government will react positively," Lau said.

He declined to lay the blame on the state government for its tight spending, saying that some of the problems were inherited from "an old system".

For example, in terms of allocations, it has been traditional for all constituencies get the same amount.

However, the large population disparities between urban and rural constituencies in Selangor today meant that the urban areas needed more money, explained Lau.

PKR, led by Azmin, who is also the party's chief in Selangor, had expressed frustration with Khalid for refusing to spend the state reserves, which have ballooned to RM3 billion since Pakatan Rakyat took over Selangor in 2008.

Opposition Leader and state economic adviser Anwar Ibrahim, who previously appeared to be neutral on the matter, has recently urged Khalid to not just build on the state reserves but also to focus on other aspects of governance.

The menteri besar's political secretary, Faekah Husin (left), has defended her boss, stating that more than RM1 billion had been spent on welfare, with other projects in the works.