RM681mil lost due to mismanagement of govt programmes last year
Published on: Wednesday, November 22, 2023
By: FMT
A padi planting scheme chalked up losses of RM660 million, according to the Auditor-General’s Report 2022.
PETALING JAYA: A total of RM681.7 million in taxpayers’ money was lost due to shortcomings in six government programmes, according to the Auditor-General’s Report 2022 released today.
The report included 16 performance audits carried out in 14 ministries involving projects and programmes worth RM208.882 billion.
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A padi planting scheme was responsible for the biggest loss amounting to RM660 million, with Auditor-General Wan Suraya Wan Radzi saying the programme fell short of its target in terms of output and increasing planters’ income.
She said there was poor management in various aspects, including land management, padi seeds, fertiliser, farm machinery, and monetary allocations.
Wan Suraya also said that no action was taken against suppliers for the late delivery of fertiliser from 2016 to 2019, calling it a loss for both the government and farmers.
Other major losses were in the Langkawi Development Board’s (Lada) real estate development programme (RM14.3 million), firearms supervisory and management under the home ministry (RM6.3 million), a marine rehabilitation programme (RM490,000), factory investment incentives (RM300,000), and safe city initiatives (RM120,000).
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Wan Suraya said Lada failed to collect land lease revenue totalling RM11.4 million for the St Regis Hotel development project (RM3.19 million) and the Kg Tok Senik project (RM8.3 million). The board, under the purview of the finance ministry, is co-chaired by the Kedah menteri besar.
Poor flood warning system, upgrades in schools
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Wan Suraya likewise described the performance of the national flood forecasting and warning programme for three river basins in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang as unsatisfactory.
She said while the government had spent RM145 million on the programme from 2015 to 2022, its flood forecasting accuracy rate was only 5.6%, and it was unable to issue warnings and announcements two days in advance.
She also flagged a school upgrade and repair programme which was implemented in only 386 out of 1,505 schools nationwide (25.6%) identified as having dilapidated buildings from 2019 to 2022.
She said only 123 of the 386 schools involved were upgraded, describing this as “subpar” performance.
The report also gave a damning assessment of the Malaysian Rubber Board, saying its R&D activities had yet to contribute directly to the development of the Malaysian rubber industry.
Improper payments of RM1.5 million were likewise flagged, primarily involving the elite sports podium programme (RM1.47 million), with the remainder linked to construction industry capacity-building programmes.
In the report, Wan Suraya put forward 261 recommendations to be considered for implementation by the audited ministries, departments and agencies at the federal and state levels.
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