Missing billions: Taib in the spotlight again
DAP figures show that Taib has not only reserved 80% of the state’s entire Development Budget to the three ministries controlled directly by him, but that shockingly, most of that money has been spent on “secret projects” about which he has provided zero information.
Free Malaysia Today
The so-called “billionaire” Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud is back in the news. This time for the RM1.825 billion allocated to “persons unknown” in 2009.
In an explosive revelation, investigators claimed that the amount represented more than half of the State Development Budget.
Sarawak Report, in disclosing the figures, made available in a DAP report, said Taib failed to account for RM4.8 billion of government expenditure over the past three years alone (2009 included).
Below are excerpts of the article which appeared in the portal.
Secret projects:
DAP, which recently triumphed over Barisan Nasional in the Sibu by-election, has produced a closely argued Alternative Budget for 2010, in which they demand a return to proper accounting methods, so that taxpayers can know exactly how their money has been spent.
This is their right and it is also Malaysian law, in line with the rest of the civilised world.
DAP figures show that Taib has not only reserved 80% of the state’s entire Development Budget to the three ministries controlled directly by him, but that shockingly, most of that money has been spent on “secret projects” about which he has provided zero information.
Under the circumstances, the people of Sarawak are entitled to assume that the money has been stolen.
Taib appears to think he can get away with not telling the people where he has decided to spend this money, but we can be certain that none of these secret projects benefitted the impoverished people whose lands he has taken for palm plantations now owned by his family and friends.
So what is going on and how has all this money disappeared? DAP budget documents provide a detailed analysis.
Firstly, it outlines the extraordinary level of personal control that Taib has assumed over Sarawak’s expenditure.
The septuagenarian personally manages the three main spending departments in the state. This means that almost every spending decision has to go through him and that no other minister can do anything without getting his permission.
In particular his three ministries (the Finance Ministry, Planning and Resources Ministry and Chief Ministry) together control 80% of the Development Budget, which alone accounts for around three quarters of all money spent, although it is argued that many of the projects would more sensibly belong under different departments.
Secondly, the documents explain the secretive system that the chief minister has developed for allocating more than half of this huge sum of money.
