'There are so many mini 1MDBs', notes Daim

The Pakatan Harapan administration has discovered many wrongdoings involving government agencies and GLCs, said Daim Zainuddin, who heads Putrajaya's Council of Eminent Persons (CEP).

"There are so many mini 1MDBs," Daim told Bloomberg. "I'm surprised at the loss. I'm still gathering all to total up. But it's big. If you add it up, it's big. Very big."

While the police and MACC are busy preparing charges on the 1MDB affair, the Finance Ministry has been busy going through the so-called "red files" and has uncovered questionable business decisions undertaken by the previous administration.

The CEP, on the other hand, has been holding dozens of meetings with government agencies and government-linked fund managers.

It was from these meetings that Daim said he had documented first-hand the extent of abuses that were taking place.

"They don't understand that they have been put there in a position of trust," said Daim. "And you have to make sure every single sen you spend is spent properly. There should be no abuse and you must account for every single sen."

In just over a month, there has been a large number of resignations by heads of government agencies and GLCs. The heads of some institutions, such as the MACC, Bank Negara, Treasury and the Attorney-General's Chambers, have either resigned or were removed.

Daim, who was former finance minister, said the Harapan administration will solve the country's fiscal problems by stemming graft and plugging leakages in state spending.

He said that state procurements would increasingly adopt open tender systems and encourage "political personalities" to step down from GLCs. - Mkini