All spending transparent and subject to audit, says Masidi
Published on: Tue, Jul 08, 2025
By: Larry Ralon Text Size: Masidi (seated) looking at the Supplementary Supply Bill (Amendment) 2025 while Sindumin Assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob looks on. Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun firmly denied any suggestion that the State Government is attempting to conceal its expenditure ahead of the coming state election, stressing that all spending is fully transparent and subject to audit. He said the tabling of the 2025 Supplementary Supply Bill was grounded in experience and the best practices of State budget preparation. 'First and foremost, I would like to clarify that what we are presenting today is based on two key factors - our experience and practices in budget preparation; and to make it clear that there is no question of us concealing any expenditures just because we are approaching an election,' he said when winding up the debate on the Bill amounting to RM1,186,923,403, which was approved. According to Masidi, all government expenditures are subject to thorough and transparent audits to ensure no abuse of power or financial mismanagement. 'For the record, all spending will be audited. As Sabahans say, sooner or later, the truth will come out if something is amiss. So, in this context, there is no room for hiding expenditures that go against regulations,' he stressed. Masidi said the State Government works closely with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to uphold the highest financial governance standards. 'We maintain a close working relationship with the MACC. In fact, every year we open the channels of communication as widely as possible with MACC to ensure there is no misconduct. We strive to comply with the best principles of governance in managing government finances,' he added. Masidi also said the proposal to channel at least RM500,000 in disaster relief funds to district offices requires further consideration due to legal and procedural constraints. He said the establishment of a Disaster Trust Fund in each district would first require tabling and approval by the State Assembly, as stipulated under Section 10 of the Financial Procedure Act 1957. 'However, my Ministry has found that setting up such a trust fund would take considerable time. Therefore, it would be more appropriate for the fund to be centralised under the Chief Minister's Department and supervised by the State Disaster Management Committee,' he said in response to the matter raised during the debate. He also assured that his Ministry pays close attention to the need to improve tourism assets and conserve heritage buildings throughout the State. However, he said these efforts are subject to the State Government's financial capacity. Masidi also clarified that the RM44 million allocated to the Office of the Deputy State Secretary (Special Tasks) was to support various educational aid programmes in Sabah. The breakdown of the allocation is as follows: Baik (Computer Aid Programme) – RM2 million for 1,000 laptops to be distributed to higher education students from eKasih or B40 families.
Budi (Higher Education Registration Assistance) – RM10 million as one-off cash assistance of RM1,500 to RM2,000 for B40/M40 students enrolling at IPTs.
Bakti (Special Exam Aid) – RM8 million for a one-off RM200 assistance to 40,000 B40 students sitting for SPM/STPM/STAM exams.
Bagus (Parent-Teacher Association Aid) – RM3 million for 1,500 PTAs to carry out school-related activities.
Bisbah (Sabah School Equipment Aid) – RM10 million to provide educational equipment to 1,600 schools.
Bistari (State Education Trust Fund) – RM2 million in SSPN savings of RM100 each for newborns.
Aksa (Education Excellence Award) – RM100,000 in awards for outstanding students/educators representing Sabah at national or international levels.
Bantu (Education Programme Support) – RM1.3 million for education programmes that benefit students.
Semesta (Sabahan Student Secretariat) – RM300,000 to fund student association activities across Malaysia and abroad.
Balkis (Minor School Maintenance Aid) – RM4 million for small-scale school repairs costing below RM50,000.
Mahas (Sabah Halal Council) – RM1.5 million for coordination, enforcement, halal expos and halal/syariah-compliant certification programmes.
Bakpa (Religious Activity Support) – RM1.3 million for religious-related programmes.
Sabah Language and Literature Council – RM500,000 to support activities related to local language and literature. 'The total allocation is intended to benefit students and educational institutions across the State, including initiatives related to student welfare, personal development and academic excellence,' said Masidi. He stressed that the State Government remains committed to delivering inclusive and comprehensive education support, despite current financial limitations. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Felda to consult PMD on RM100,000 allocation for land scheme villages
KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) will consult the Prime Minister's Department to determine the best approach for distributing the RM100,000 allocation to each village in its land schemes, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday. Its chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the move aims to ensure the funds are distributed efficiently and achieve the government's objectives. "We will refer to PMD to establish the appropriate criteria for recipients to ensure that the assistance is properly utilised and achieves the intended goals," he said. He said the allocation would be tailored to the needs of individual villages, some of which have Land Scheme Working Committees (JKTR), cooperatives, or youth councils. Ahmad Shabery said this to reporters after launching the Felda Robo and Novate 2025 programme, themed 'Young Innovators, Global Future,' at the Mega 3D Carnival (MK3D) 2025 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec). Also present was Felda director-general Datuk Dr Suzana Idayu Wati Osman. Yesterday, Anwar announced the RM100,000 allocation for each village under Felda to fund development projects decided by the local residents. This initiative aligns with the Madani government's focus on consultation and empowering the people. Regarding the delisting of FGV Holdings Bhd (FGV) from Bursa Malaysia, Ahmad Shabery said it should not be viewed negatively. He said delisting will allow for a restructuring of the company without being constrained by the regulations governing public companies, ultimately enabling Felda to fully own FGV and run welfare activities for settlers more effectively. Anwar had earlier confirmed that Felda would have control over FGV's direction once the delisting process is completed, which will begin on August 28.
Free Malaysia Today
4 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Creating Anwar's legacy — ending ‘gomenshud'
One of the most common Malaysian words I hear is 'gomenshud'. This is used whenever an issue of concern arises and the 'government should' do something about it rather than the private sector or, heaven-forfend, that individuals should fix it for themselves. It is ironic that people complain of incompetence, systemic corruption and moral turpitude within the executive, legislature, judiciary and the permanent civil service at federal and state levels but still demand that more money, responsibility and interference opportunities should be handed to them. The economics of government and policy design, called 'public choice theory' tells us clearly that people in government are not driven by the 'greater good' or the 'public interest', they are, just like the rest of us, driven by personal and collective self-interest. This is not meant to be cynical or offensive but simply to help us understand those in public policy as human beings — they have hopes and dreams, they want to make life easy for themselves as far as possible and if there is a chance to make a few bucks they will take it. Each year the auditor-general reports hundreds of millions lost in wastage and leakages across the government sector. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) estimates RM277 billion lost to corruption between 2018 and 2023. The think tank Emir Research estimates that RM4.5 trillion was lost to corruption in the last 26 years. This is all identified after the fact and to stop this haemorrhage of resources we need to address the 'gomenshud mentality' which defaults to intervention from the start without proper evaluation of the costs and benefits and the likely losses due specifically to policy design. A common form of policy design in Malaysia is the 'patronage cascade' where projects, concessions and access routes to money are specifically built-in to benefit middlemen often through pre-allocated packages and contracts. With this in mind, the 13th Malaysia Plan which will be tabled this week should reduce the role and interference of government. We should be cautious if we see 'patronage cascades' where policies are specifically designed to pass projects to vested interests. Instead, broad-based universal programmes, available to everyone, with open and transparent access routes should be the emphasis. This can be achieved first by government exiting commercial activities which crowd out large businesses, SMEs and micro enterprises and leaving these activities to the private sector. Second by slashing regulations and focusing only on minimum standards of health and safety, anti-corruption, good governance and anti-trust issues. Finally, by focusing on the basic role of government in many areas where there are direct and legitimate concerns for public policy including public health, education and social protection. Economic mechanisms we hope to see in the 13MP include liberalisation of markets, reducing regulatory burdens, limiting government interference and promoting creative, innovative, agile, competitive businesses. The US tariff issue also sends us a lesson that protectionist policies come with a reciprocal cost. So removing restrictions to market access should also be a priority for the 13MP. Proper independent assessments have rarely been made of the targets of previous Malaysia plans and many have not been delivered, fully or at all. The main unfulfilled target of every Malaysia plan is to build in a mechanism to end the need for future plans. In other words, these are 'forever wars' against dreamed up economic challenges more typical of centrally planned economies. They are increasingly irrelevant in a modern technology-driven economic environment in which anything laid down in July 2025 will be obsolete by December 2025 let alone by 2030 — gomenshud recognise this and end it once and for all. The views expressed are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Sarawak aligns tourism development with RMK13 investment zones
KUCHING: The Sarawak government has expressed readiness to align its tourism development strategies with the newly announced tourism investment zones under the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13). Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Sarawak's Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts, stated that while the state already possesses strong tourism offerings, further collaboration with federal initiatives will enhance mutual benefits. 'If the tourism investment zones include areas like Mulu, Niah, the Kuching Delta, and the Rainforest World Music Festival, then we are already aligned. We just need deeper discussions,' he said. He emphasised the importance of avoiding overlaps and instead strengthening ongoing and future efforts. Sarawak's tourism sector has shown promising growth this year, with visitor numbers nearing five million and revenue surpassing RM1 billion. Abdul Karim, who also oversees youth and entrepreneurial development, stressed that socioeconomic programs for bumiputera must align with Sarawak's existing ecosystem to ensure effective implementation. He welcomed RMK13's focus on expanding business opportunities through funding, training, and mentorship, noting that the state government has similar initiatives under the Post-COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030. Speaking at the Youth EdXchange Programme 2025, he highlighted the importance of youth empowerment. 'Your experiences—from community immersion to sustainability workshops—prove that when given a platform, young people lead with purpose,' he said. The two-day event, attended by 60 participants, fostered cross-cultural collaboration among local and ASEAN youth. - Bernama
