{
  "id": 16585879,
  "title": "Zahid defends RM6.1b rural road spending, says RM2.1b gap does not indicate leakage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/26/zahid-defends-rm6-1b-rural-road-spending-says-rm2-1b-gap-does-not",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-26T10:06:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Vibes",
    "slug": "the-vibes",
    "url": "https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/128820/zahid-defends-rm6.1b-rural-road-spending-says-rm2.1b-gap-does-not-indicate-leakage"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has defended the RM6.108 billion spending under the Rural Road Programme (JALB) for 2023-2025, asserting that the RM2.1 billion discrepancy between actual expenditure and the original allocation does not indicate missing funds or misappropriation. He clarified that the apparent gap arises from comparing actual expenditure of RM6.108 billion with the initial allocation of RM3.982 billion without accounting for subsequent additional allocations and revisions. Zahid emphasized that the programme's financial position should be assessed using the original allocation, revised allocation, and actual expenditure, rather than the initial allocation alone.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}