KUALA LUMPUR: A Sabah member of parliament has expressed dismay over the low percentage of projects being implemented in the state.
Kota Belud member of parliament Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis said when compared with development projects in other states, Sabah ranked the lowest in terms of development.
"I am sad and disappointed because (when) I refer to the answers from the minister, Sabah is the worst among all regions. As a Sabahan, I am frustrated.
"It is the lowest (in terms of development), to the extent that programmes and projects in the state are still lagging, with only 46 per cent of the allocated RM6.7 billion being spent," she said.
Isnaraissah raised the issue during Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa's question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
She also questioned the role of the State Development Action Council and State Action Committee, which have been slow in carrying out projects or programmes in the state.
"What is really happening? Not only has the federal government been slow in implementing development projects, but the state has also delayed in implementing such projects.
"Hence, we need to find a solution to resolve this issue together," she said.
Dr Zaliha, in response to the initial question from Isnaraissah, said a total of RM90 billion was allocated for development programmes and projects under the Fourth Rolling Plan (RP4) of the 12th Malaysia Plan.
She said the Federal Territories received an allocation of RM23.61 billion, the second highest after the "various states" category, which received RM30.21 billion.
The "various states" category refers to development projects involving two or more states, such as highway projects and inter-state water transfer projects.
"In this case, expenditure for the Federal Territories was RM16.39 billion, with an expenditure performance of 69.40 per cent, which is above the overall performance of 65.83 per cent," she added.
Dr Zaliha said Sabah and Sarawak received allocations of RM6.67 billion and RM5.81 billion, respectively. However, their expenditure performance was relatively low, at 46.70 per cent for Sabah and 54.43 per cent for Sarawak, both below the overall performance.
"The state in Peninsular Malaysia with the lowest expenditure performance is Kedah, at 53.43 per cent," she said.
She further said Sabah and Sarawak recorded the highest number of projects, with 1,244 and 1,124 projects respectively, compared with Perlis, which had only 172 projects.
"Pahang recorded the highest expenditure performance at 74.65 per cent, followed by Melaka with the second-highest performance of 74.27 per cent, despite having the lowest allocation of RM927 million. Terengganu came in third with a performance rate of 72.39 per cent."
Dr Zaliha said the government was committed to ensuring the smooth implementation of development projects across the country so that allocated funds could be spent optimally and in line with Directive No. 1 of 2023: National Development Implementation Coordination Mechanism.