Zahid explains RM2.1bil spending overrun by rural ministry

 The deputy prime minister says the sum represented the difference between its initial allocation and the amount spent over three years.

Rural and regional development minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said if the amended allocations are compared, the ministry had in fact underspent. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR:

Rural and regional development minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today explained that the alleged RM2.1 billion in excess expenditure represented the difference between the ministry’s initial allocation and its actual spending over three years.

Zahid, who is also a deputy prime minister, said a total of RM6.108 billion was spent between 2023 and 2025.

The ministry, on the other hand, had been initially allocated RM3.982 billion. The sum was later amended to RM6.143 billion.

“When we compare the amended allocations, the ministry has in fact underspent,” he said when winding up the 2027 budget debate in the Dewan Rakyat.

Zahid said claims linked to the ministry’s finances and projects should be based on facts, adding that accusations of leakages, corruption and embezzlement could tarnish its image and undermine the integrity of civil servants.

He also claimed that projects in Sabah and Sarawak were shelved on the orders of the ministry’s secretary-general, despite funds being set aside for it.

Zahid however did not elaborate.

Late last month, DAP adviser Lim Guan Eng urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the purported overspending by Zahid’s ministry, saying the accumulated spending by the ministry was no small amount.

The allocation set aside for the rural and regional development ministry came under the spotlight after Zahid voiced frustration over delayed payments to contractors carrying out ministry projects, saying some were forced to shut down due to cash flow issues.

The Umno president said some contractors under his ministry were still waiting to be paid despite completing their work and meeting the required project milestones.

The following day, Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican said contractors handling rural development projects faced delayed payments because most of the ministry’s allocation for rural roads this year had already been spent.

Johan said the ministry had consistently exceeded its approved allocation for rural road projects in recent years, with RM1.8 billion spent in 2023 against an approved allocation of RM1.1 billion, RM2 billion in 2024 against RM1.3 billion, and RM2.3 billion in 2025 against RM1.6 billion. - FMT