PETALING JAYA,Sept 3: The government should stop allocating large development funds to elected representatives because they will have a hard time distributing the money for development projects in their constituencies.
This was the opinion shared by Subang MP Wong Chen at a webinar, entitled “Should There Be Equal Constituency Development Funds?”, hosted by Bersih 2.0.
He said after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the 14th general election, PH MPs were allocated RM3.5 million each to spend on the community.
“I did not need that much money for the Subang community. For me, RM1 million was more than enough.
“Instead of allocating a huge amount just to MPs from the ruling coalition, funds should be given equally to all MPs, regardless of political affiliation,” Wong said.
He also questioned the government’s decision to allocate development funds to their representatives who lost in the general election.
Another speaker, Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said, shared similar views on the need to stop granting large allocations.
She also raised concerns regarding the involvement of MPs in these development projects.
“MPs should not be a party to any physical projects as we can be accused of being involved in corrupt practices to get more votes,” she said.
Azalina said despite MPs having the responsibility to recommend the development projects, the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) under the prime minister’s office oversees the projects and holds the power to award the projects to any contractors.
“ICU has the power to approve and they can give out the projects to the contractors they want,” she said, adding that the development fund should not be managed by government agencies, but instead be given to neutral parties.
