Overspending claims politically motivated, says Zahid’s aide

 Razlan Rafii questions how Lim Guan Eng arrived at the RM2.1 billion figure which the rural and regional development ministry had allegedly overspent.

Razlan Rafii, the political secretary to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said Lim Guan Eng should focus on settling his corruption case. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s political secretary today denied Lim Guan Eng’s claim that the rural and regional development ministry had overspent, saying the allegations were made in bad faith.

Razlan Rafii questioned how Lim, a former finance minister, arrived at the RM2.1 billion figure that the ministry had allegedly overspent.

“Did he pluck the figure from a previous statement by the Treasury secretary-general? Did he even seek an explanation from the Treasury?” he asked in a statement.

Earlier today, Lim urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the purported over-expenditure of the ministry, helmed by deputy prime minister Zahid.

Lim said the ministry’s spending from 2023 to 2025 resulted in a cumulative RM2.1 billion in over-expenditure, which he described as no small amount.

He said it represented an “irresponsible breach of financial procedures that can lead to legal action”.

Earlier this month, Zahid voiced frustration over delayed payments to contractors carrying out ministry projects, saying some were forced to shut down because of 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.

Razlan said Lim’s remarks were politically motivated and aimed at tarnishing Zahid’s image as the Umno president, in view of the impending Melaka polls.

“Lim should take a good look in the mirror before making such calls and he should focus on settling his court case,” he said, referring to the DAP adviser’s undersea tunnel project trial.

“Such insolence is why Umno members cannot embrace the DAP.” - FMT