SABAH and Sarawak will receive RM11 billion in rural road expenditure between 2023 and 2027, nearly three times the RM3.7 billion spent in the preceding five years, Malaysian Investment Development Authority chairman Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said.
He said the two states received about half of the country's annual rural road expenditure, with actual spending reaching RM1.41 billion this year, the highest in a decade.
In a social media post, Tengku Zafrul said RM4.6 billion had been spent on rural road development in Sabah and Sarawak since 2023, disputing claims that the states had been sidelined.
He acknowledged concerns over the deferment of several projects, explaining that rural road expenditure had exceeded allocations approved by Parliament every year since 2022, creating mounting contractual commitments and outstanding payments to contractors.
To address the arrears, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in his capacity as Finance Minister, approved an additional RM500 million for rural road expenditure in 2026, using savings from other ministries' development allocations, he said.
Tengku Zafrul stressed that the deferment applied to new contracts and did not mean existing projects had been cancelled, adding that the Finance Ministry had issued no directive to terminate them.
The move was intended to prevent payment arrears from increasing and keep government financial commitments under control.
Budget 2027 provides RM2.27 billion for rural road development, while Sabah and Sarawak have been allocated a combined RM34.9 billion.
Tengku Zafrul said the priority was to ensure projects were implemented, contractors paid and communities benefited from better road access.
“Allocations alone are not enough without good governance,” he said. - November 1, 2026
