RM1.0 Billion To Burn : 10,000 Projects At RM100,000 Each In 12 Months !!

• Govt to allocate RM1bil for rural communities to start economic projects  
• gomen allocate RM1b next year for rural communities to start projects
• each village, longhouse, PPR get max RM100,000 for handicrafts, hydroponics etc

(OSTB : RM1.0 Billion?? Where is the money coming from? This was not part of Budget 2024. 

That RM1.0b divides into 10,000 projects of RM100,000 each to be accomplished in just 12 months. 

• That is about 833 projects in 12 months in each of the 12 States
• I am not counting tiny Perlis. 
• Or 69 projects completed every month in each State. 
• Or 2.3 projects completed everyday. 
• Folks you know, I know, the neighbour's cat knows that is just not going to happen. 

Let me tell you what will happen. Do read on).  

• Money given to penghulu, penggawa, tuai rumah 
• after holding meeting and deciding suitable economic project for village
• I want to see villagers decide and run (economic projects) at low cost
• manage with RM100,000, see what can be done, he said
• fund may be increased to RM2 billion if it shows success 
• Spend prudently and follow the set rules, he said 
• emphasising the funds not for repairing damaged fences or bridges

(OSTB : "see what can be done"? not for repairing damaged fences or bridges?

Eeny, meeny, miny moe 
Plant the cabbage with your toe
If it fries, here is two billion more

The penghulu, penggawa and tuai rumah will use their advanced degrees in business planning and management to do a detailed cashflow projection and analysis on what business they can start up with RM100,000. Imagine 10,000 new businesses in 12 months).  

expected to involve tens of millions of people 

(OSTB: There are about 34 million people in the country. 78% of our population is urban. That is about 26.5 million people. So about 7.5 million people in our country are considered rural).

Conclusion : There will be a boost in the local economies. RM100,000 is too little to import machinery even from China. The money will be spent in the local hardware shops. There will be some price inflation for certain because this RM1.0 billion is free money (buta money) that was NOT generated from productivity. Prices of building materials will go up.

And most sadly most of this RM1.0 billion will not generate much productivity either. 

The penghulus and tuai rumahs have just been elevated to become Investment Managers for which they have absolutely no experience. There will be massive arguments, disagreements and even fights among the kampomg people on how exactly to spend the money (and who exactly will get the money). 

To satisfy the many applicants the penghulus and tuai rumahs will eventually have to further subdivide the RM100,000 into smaller projects of RM1,000 or RM2,000 or RM5,000 each. Pisang goreng, keropok lekor and burger stalls are going to mushroom by the hundreds and thousands.  This is going to be another disaster. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.