PUTRAJAYA – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has directed Finance Ministry officials to suspend the approval of RM7 billion, including for flood mitigation projects, through direct negotiation subject to re-examination.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said that the ministry’s officials have been asked to re-examine the approvals granted to ensure that they are transparent and comply with the regulations.
“We will re-examine some of the previous approvals... we will continue the good ones but with a new approach.
“The issues of poverty, disparity are the main measures to drive economic development.
“I also emphasise that some of the recent approvals, including the approval of flood mitigation projects which are allocated somewhere around RM15 billion and RM7 billion have already been approved – without a regular tender process – through direct negotiations.
“I have asked that the projects be halted, and that they be re-examined so that there is a principle of transparency and also to comply with the rules that have been set,” he said during a press conference after clocking in on his first day as finance minister today.
The projects, he said, involved a significant allocation and the decision to approve them through direct negotiations was made with the pretext of solving the nation’s flood woes.
However, such actions, he added, will cause problems when they do not comply with the rules and open up room for certain parties to exploit. – The Vibes, December 6, 2022
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