KANGAR: Perikatan Nasional's (PN) Guar Sanji lawmaker Mohd Ridzuan Hashim has called on the Perlis government to lift the freeze on allocations for assemblymen.
Ridzuan said the freeze on the RM400,000 allocation, in place since since May after several state government leaders were investigated for graft in April, had disrupted many projects.
"The state government allocation for each assemblyman is now channelled to the District Administration Division.
"Following the integrity issues in this state (in April), the state government froze allocations for management or infrastructure spending, involving hundreds of thousands of ringgits.
"I raised this issue in the state assembly today (Aug 6). The authority to manage the allocation should be returned to the assemblymen as it is the right of the people, and this right must be prioritised because there are many people's complaints that are unresolved.
"The end of the year is near, but there has been no official response from the state government.
"When asked, the officers did not respond," he said after the state assembly sitting today (Aug 6).
He said assemblymen met their constituents daily and were aware of their problems, whereas District Administration Division officers remained in their offices.
Ridzuan said assemblymen should be allowed to manage the allocation while the District Administration Division should handle the documentation.
He also called for the annual allocation for assemblyman to run their service centres be increased from RM50,000 to RM100,000.
"I also suggest that the monthly management allocation (for service centre) be increased from RM3,000 to RM5,000, as many other states have allocated between RM6,000 and RM8,000 monthly for assemblymen," he said.