Set up special body to monitor ministries’ spending, says Puad

Former deputy minister Puad Zarkashi has called for the establishment of a special body to monitor ministries' spending and prevent overspending. In a Facebook post, the former Batu Pahat MP expressed shock at discovering that the rural and regional development ministry returned a significant portion of its allocated funds to the finance ministry.

Puad, who served as deputy education minister from 2009 to 2013, stated that the unit should ensure there are no repeat instances of overspending. He also suggested that the body could monitor ministries that fail to use up their allocated funds, particularly in cases of urgent needs. Puad highlighted his experience in Sabah and Sarawak, where he learned of schools lacking the necessary funds for repairs, only to later find out that there were unused funds.

He questioned whether this was due to bureaucracy, inaccurate information about school needs, or other factors. The issue, according to Puad, should be addressed in the 2027 budget. The Treasury revealed that the deputy prime minister's ministry consistently exceeded its approved allocation for rural road projects, spending RM1.8 billion in 2023, RM2 billion in 2024, and RM2.3 billion in 2025 against annual allocations of RM1.1 billion, RM1.3 billion, and RM1.6 billion, respectively.

This resulted in a cumulative difference of RM2.1 billion between approved annual allocations and actual expenditure.