.jpg "Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (centre) and Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi (second from left) are pictured during a visit to Sunway Pyramid August 18, 2020. ― Picture by Choo Choy May")
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Projects involving the government’s partnership with private companies will not involve any abuse of power or “hanky-panky”, a minister has given his assurance today.
Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, minister in the prime minister’s department in charge of economy, said the existing procedures available ensures that no abuse of powers happens for such projects even with the government’s Public Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) being shifted back from the Finance Ministry to come under the Prime Minister’s Department next year.
“I assure that there are checks and balances, strong governance, strong guidelines, there are a few committees.
“The procedure is that it has to go to the Cabinet, which means dealings are not with an officer or minister, but when public private partnership projects are involved, it goes to the Cabinet.
“So I give the assurance that there is no hanky-panky, and this Ukas committee has the Finance Ministry, has the Economic Planning Unit, has the Attorney General’s Chambers, has the Land and Mines Department, Valuation and Property Management Department, which means that there are firm methods to ensure there is no abuse of power,” he said.
Mustapa was responding to DAP’s Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming, who had raised questions over why Ukas has been parked under the Prime Minister’s Department again as seen in Budget 2021’s allocations.
What Bangi MP questioned about Ukas’ position
Ong, who was formerly deputy minister of international trade and industry, had highlighted that Ukas was under the Prime Minister’s Department under the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, but was shifted to the Finance Ministry when Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over as federal government previously.
“The main reason that Ukas was shifted was because of the abuse of power under the BN government, where under Ukas, PPP (public private partnership) projects that cost hundreds of billions of ringgit are approved under the Prime Minister’s Department. But at the end of the day, the Finance Ministry is the ministry that will pay the cost of this PPP.
“So I think that it is not appropriate, and not suitable to shift Ukas back to the Prime Minister’s Department and there is no important input from the Finance Ministry. Most importantly it is to give power to the finance minister to decide whether this PPP will be allowed or not,” he said.
Ong also questioned who will be the one giving approvals for PPP projects with Ukas now placed back under the Prime Minister’s Department, noting the risk of abuse of power in such approvals.
“When BN was the government, PPP projects had been approved by the Chief Secretary to the Government (KSN) as approving authority; but when Pakatan Harapan took over, the highest approving authority was the finance minister.
“So I want to ask when Ukas is shifted back to the Prime Minister’s Department, is the approving authority under the KSN again, or does the finance minister still have veto power towards the approval of PPP projects? I feel when Ukas is shifted back to the Prime Minister’s Department, the possibility of abuse of power may increase. I propose Ukas be shifted back to the Finance Ministry, so checks and balances can be restored,” he had said earlier when debating the allocation for the Prime Minister’s Department in the Budget 2021 at the committee stage in the Dewan Rakyat.
Following Mustapa’s clarification that PPP projects under Ukas would go through the Cabinet, with various government agencies involved in the entire process, Ong however maintained his position that Ukas should not come under the Prime Minister’s Department.
Drawing on his experience as an unpaid special officer to then finance minister Lim Guan Eng during the PH administration, Ong said that the PH administration had reviewed PPP projects that were approved under the BN government and found issues with PPP projects.
“And one of the reasons why the government’s contingent liabilities and total debt exposure hit RM1.4 trillion is because there is a commitment to pay PPPs.
“This is one of the reasons why Ukas did not carry out its responsibilities well, a lot of expenditure was hidden under development expenditure, and this is a long-term commitment that will give a negative impact to the government. So I feel Ukas has to be shifted back to the Finance Ministry so there are proper checks and balances,” he said.
Mustapa then appeared to respond lightheartedly by thanking Ong for his views, saying: “It can be seen Bangi (Ong) has no confidence towards me, so I will do my best to ensure weaknesses — if there are any — are overcome.”