KUALA LUMPUR: In an effort to address the wastage of public funds allocation, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has highlighted the importance of governance reforms. He stated that stern action will be taken against any officer or minister found to be involved in the abuse of power that leads to the leakage of public funds.
The Prime Minister stressed that issues of corruption and governance should not be taken lightly, as they can result in losses to public funds, as highlighted in the previous Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN).
Anwar further added, “We must learn from these experiences of power abuse and fund leakages, and I want to emphasize that they must not be repeated… because once confirmed, we will take immediate action.
“Officers, managers, ministers, or anyone responsible will face consequences. This also includes the unsatisfactory management of government company funds,” said Anwar, who also serves as the Finance Minister. He made these statements while concluding the debate on the Supply Bill 2024 at the policy level at the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Nov 3).
Anwar pointed out that the government has encountered multiple incidents, including audit warnings related to procurement, as mentioned in the LKAN and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports. Examples he gave were the malfunctioning of 104 ventilators out of the 136 acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a loss of RM505 million due to the expiration of 8.5 million vaccine doses,” Bernama reported.
