Where's the RM70m - MIC asks Waytha, Guan Eng to 'open their mouths'

MIC is claiming that the Indian community is likely to lose most of the RM100 million allocated to it in the 2019 Budget by the Pakatan Harapan government.

As such, MIC Senator S Ananthan took Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and P Waythamoorthy, the Prime Minister's Department Minister in charge of Indian affairs, to task for the slowdown after Waythamoorthy told the Dewan Rakyat that only RM31.5 million had been distributed through Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) for socio-economic programmes.

"We (MIC) want Guan Eng and Waytha to 'open their mouths' and explain Harapan's difficulty in distributing these funds,' said Ananthan.

He told Malaysiakini that most of the funds would be frozen or inaccessible if they were not spent by the end of the year.

"So far only RM31.5 million has been spent. So that leaves the question of remaining RM69.5 million? Why are they so slow to allocate and distribute it?" asked Ananthan.

Responding to MIC Senator T Mohan's oral question on July 23, Waythamoorthy said the funds' management was only implemented by Mitra since January this year.

"To streamline the transparent application system, the Grants Management System (GMS) was launched on Jan 28. Under the first phase, 40 Indian socio-economic development programmes have been approved with a total allocation of RM15.7 million.

"While under the second phase, 60 programmes totalling RM15.8 million have been approved for the socio-economic development programmes of the Malaysian Indian community," Waythamoorthy had said.

S Ananthan

He said that Mitra was focusing on high-impact programmes in an effort to enhance the quality of life and capabilities of the Indian community in a holistic way that covered education, economic and social aspects.

However, Ananthan said Waythamoorthy's answer did not answer questions raised by the Indian community at the grassroots level.

The RM100 million funds issue has been mounting among the Indian community after several NGOs and schools complained that their applications for grants were not approved without any reasons being given.

DAP's Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy has led the charge among Harapan leaders in pressing Waythamoorthy to clarify the fund's allocation.

Ananthan, who is also Kedah MIC chairperson, said he had urged Guan Eng to respond to a complaint that the Ministry of Finance had refused approval for the funds despite repeated requests by Mitra.

"We want Guan Eng to explain how much the Finance Ministry has released so far. So we will know where the problem is and who is not telling the truth," he added.

Malaysiakini is trying to contact Lim and Waythamoorthy for their comments. - Mkini