PETALING JAYA: There will be twice as many development projects next year than planned for, thanks to a delay in the allocation of funds for this year’s projects.
As a result of the delay, many of these projects can only be launched in 2020.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (pix) attributed the “double barrel” increase in the number of projects to the late distribution of allocations to the government agencies.
“The Finance Ministry distributed all the money to the various ministries in January (this year) but the ministries only allocated the funds to each of their agencies in May,” he said at a press conference after the Selangor DAP convention, here today.
Lim said the agencies only began preliminary design, basic work and training after receiving the money, but the tender process only began in September or October.
“By the time the tender process is completed and work ready to start, it will be next year,” he added.
He agreed that such delays were unnecessary so the federal government was identifying the problem to ensure this would not happen again.
However, he did not say which ministries were plagued by this issue but added that it would be solved “stage by stage”.
Lim recalled that he faced the same problem when he was first appointed chief minister of Penang.
“We need time for the civil servants to get used to us. These are among the challenges we face,” he said.
“I ask the people to be patient. As we move on in line with government policies and approaches, we will see the benefits,” he added.
He said a meeting to identify the issues with this year’s development expenditure had already been held, and another would be convened to ensure that next year’s budget was spent within the year.
