Dana tambahan RM500 juta dilulus untuk kementerian Zahid selepas terlebih belanja

The rural and regional development ministry has been ordered to prepare a projection of funds required for rural road projects for the remainder of the year and 2027, based on contracts already awarded. (Facebook pic) PETALING JAYA: The Treasury has approved RM500 million in additional funds for deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's rural and regional development ministry after exceeding its initial allocation for this year.

Finance minister Anwar Ibrahim said the ministry had already been allocated RM2.11 billion for 2026, which was a RM500 million increase compared with 2025, after it spent more than its allocations in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

However, he said the increased allocation proved insufficient. This prompted the finance ministry to take additional steps.

"Firstly, we identified development expenditure savings in other ministries and, for now, have approved an additional RM500 million for the rural and regional development ministry for 2026 by issuing a letter of permission to spend more than the allocations.

"Secondly, on Sept 10, we ordered the ministry to postpone the issuance of new letters of acceptance for rural road projects so as not to add to the existing overdue payments (to contractors).

"And thirdly, we have asked the ministry to prepare a projection of the allocation required for rural road projects for the remainder of the year and for 2027, based on the contracts that have already been awarded," he said in a written parliamentary reply.

Anwar, who is also prime minister, was responding to Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan), who asked the finance minister to detail actions being taken against those responsible for the rural and regional development ministry's consistent overspending.

Lim also asked if contractors for the ministry's projects were selected via open tenders.

Anwar said the Treasury introduced a selected pre-qualified open tender system in the rural and regional development ministry in 2023, but the auditor-general's report last year found that the new system had failed to achieve Putrajaya's original objectives.

"Therefore, the finance ministry has stopped using this system for new projects in the rural and regional development ministry," he said.

In October, Zahid voiced frustration over delayed payments to contractors carrying out projects under his ministry, saying some were forced to shut down because of cash flow issues.

The following day, Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican said contractors handling rural development projects faced delayed payments as 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 a cumulative total of RM2.1 billion in over-expenditure recorded from 2023 to 2025.