Najib must explain RM4.6b undisclosed funds for PM's Dept

PARLIAMENT | DAP lawmaker Nga Kor Ming has claimed that Putrajaya failed to disclose the details on RM4.6 billion which was part of the allocation for the Prime Minister's Department under Budget 2018.

In his budget debate today at Parliament, Nga demanded that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak provide the details on the spending.

This included the RM3.2 billion for facilitation funds, RM50 million for iM4U programmes, RM572 million for special projects and RM804 million for the Mesra Rakyat project.

"The facilitation fund allocation will increase from RM1.5 billion to RM3.2 billion next year. What is this facilitation fund, I cannot find it in the budget report," Nga said.

"(It seems that) the fund for political purposes increased by 100 percent," he told Dewan Rakyat.

"What is this iM4U that will receive RM50 million? Will they be given RM50 million if they say 'I love PM'? What about special projects, there are no details," he said.

"These (undisclosed purpose) funds add up to RM4.4 billion, one-tenth of the goods and services tax (GST) revenue.

"I urge Najib to appear in Dewan Rakyat to provide details of these funds in line with the accountability and transparent spirit," he added.

The PM's Department will receive a total of RM17.43 billion from Budget 2018, with allocations for operating and development expenditure at RM5.2 billion and RM12.21 billion respectively.

After the budget announcement was made, Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong termed the development expenditure received by the department as the prime minister's "slush funds."

Accroding to Liew, this amount has been steadily increasing throughout Najib's administration, with an over RM2 billion increase from the previous year.

He added that the PM's Department has absolute discretion on how the funds are spent, with details largely kept obscured from the scrutiny of Parliament. -Mkini