SABAH, SARAWAK LAG IN SPENDING PERFORMANCE UNDER 12MP

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Sabah and Sarawak recorded low spending performance compared to their allocation of RM6.67 billion and RM5.81 billion, respectively, received under the Fourth Rolling Plan (RP4) of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) as of October.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa said Sabah’s spending performance stood at 46.7 per cent, while Sarawak’s was at 54.43 per cent.

“Sabah and Sarawak registered the highest number of projects with 1,244 and 1,124 programmes, respectively, compared to Perlis, which only had 172,” she said during the question-and-answer session in Dewan Rakyat today.

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She was responding to a question from Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan-Kota Belud) regarding the development expenditure allocation, the percentage and number of projects for each state and Federal Territory in 2024, spending performance compared to the allocation as of October, and the improvements in project implementation procedures in both states.

Dr Zaliha said steps have been taken to improve the implementation procedures of development projects in Sabah and Sarawak, including recognising the Public Works Department and the Irrigation and Drainage Department in both states as Technical Departments.

Such recognition enables both departments to administer projects worth RM50 million and below under Treasury Directive (AP) 182, which has been in effect since March 1, 2023.

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Dr Zaliha said in the peninsula, Kedah recorded the lowest spending performance, at a rate of 53.43 per cent.

“Pahang recorded the highest spending performance of 74.65 per cent, followed by Melaka at 74.27 per cent despite having the lowest allocation of RM927 million, while Terengganu was in third place at 72.39 per cent,” she said.

She added that out of the total allocation of RM90 billion under RP4 12MP, the Federal Territories received RM23.61 billion, the second highest after the ‘Various States’ category, which received RM30.21 billion.

She explained that the ‘Various States’ category includes development projects involving two or more states, such as highway alignment and cross-state water transfer projects.

Dr Zaliha said that the Federal Territory’s expenditure was RM16.39 billion, with a spending performance of 69.40 per cent, above the overall performance of 65.83 per cent.

-- BERNAMA