PUTRAJAYA: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has urged the government to expedite the disbursement of approved allocations to the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to address severe payment delays faced by its contractors.
Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, criticised the realignment of government funds and the implementation of unbudgeted initiatives, which he said had disrupted scheduled programmes and left contractors in the lurch.
"Several development programmes and projects have had to be slowed down or restructured following financial allocation adjustments.
"Budgets that have been announced must be channelled. Do not implement things that were never requested in the budget.
"What should be paid is left unpaid, while what shouldn't be paid gets paid. What was not budgeted for gets carried out, but what was budgeted for is neglected.
"That is the problem before us. I am not angry, I am just heated," he said during the ministry's monthly assembly here today.
The Finance Ministry is responsible for disbursing the allocations.
Zahid said many contractors had completed their work and achieved milestones stipulated under their contracts, including those involved in Rural Roads Projects, but were left without payment.
He said the delays were not due to the ministry's inefficiency, but bottlenecks in the disbursement of funds.
"We cannot make payments because the funds have not been channelled to us. Yet, we are the ones who get blamed," he said.
Zahid warned that withholding payments could trigger a severe ripple effect across the broader economy, noting that several contractors had already been forced out of business.
"How many contractors have had to close shop? How many of them have been sued by building material suppliers? How many sub-contractors have sued their main contractors?"
He said delayed payments strained the cash flow of suppliers, contractors, sub-contractors, workers, service providers and the entire economic supply chain in the affected areas.
Zahid added that sound fiscal management should not merely be viewed through the lens of controlling expenditure, but must also ensure that the government honours its commitments responsibly to safeguard public confidence. - NST
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