By Suhaila Shahrul Annuar
SHAH ALAM, June 6 — Gombak MP Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari has suggested a special formula for national expenditure during emergencies or disasters should be formed to ensure transparency and balance in all transactions.
Citing the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic by declaring a nationwide state of emergency, Amirudin said that a thorough evaluation and balance of national expenditures could prevent wastage.
“We may need a special formula for managing emergencies or disasters, where immediate spending is required but must be reviewed and balanced, with proper documentation and accuracy.
“It must be carefully examined so that in the future, if there is any ‘misconduct’ taking advantage of the disaster, that would be a very unpleasant situation. We must continue to maintain checks and balances to prevent any oversight,” he said during the debate on Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) 2021 Series 2 in Dewan Rakyat, here today.
Amirudin, who is also the Selangor Menteri Besar, emphasised the need for comprehensive management and governance of expenditures to prevent wastage, financial loss, and suspicious activities.
“Everyone is aware that the AG’s Report is not meant to punish… its purpose is to improve administrative governance, to thoroughly examine how to address the issues.
“With this debate today, we should improve our debates not just about committees or technicalities but about policy issues of what need to be refined so that (the issues highlighted in the AG’s Report) will not be repeated again,” he said.
The AG’s Report was debated for the first time in Parliament today to acknowledge that the government takes the issues raised in the report seriously, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has directed the relevant ministers to investigate the raised issues.
Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said when tabling the motion for debate on the report today, said that all issues related to wastage, non-compliance with regulations, failure to meet requirements, and weaknesses in planning need to be examined.
She said all parties should learn from this experience to prevent repetition in the implementation of activities, programmes, or projects in the future.
