Finance Ministry cancels RM50mil allocation for Kojadi

(The Star) – The Finance Ministry has cancelled the RM50mil allocation funds to Koperasi Jayadiri Malaysia Bhd (Kojadi), as promised in Budget 2018.

The funds were supposed to assist Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“If this is not a revenge, what will this be?” said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong at the press conference after the party’s 65th annual general assembly.

“The Finance Ministry did not allocate funds for Kojadi in 2019. And now, they are not distributing the funds allocated in Budget 2018, which has already been endorsed by parliament,” he said.

Kojadi is affiliated to MCA.

In Budget 2018, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that for the Chinese community, the Government will provide a sum of RM50 million as loans for SMEs through Kojadi.

Dr Wee said Kojadi has received the news in a letter issued by the Finance Ministry.

The announcement came as the MCA leaders are in an open spat with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng over the allocation of operating funds for Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC).

Lim has recently insisted in Parliament that MCA break its ties with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and TAR UC before the government could provide more allocation for the two institutions.

Lim also announced RM5.5mil in development funds for TAR UC, saying that he could consider giving it more in the future if it severed ties with MCA, adding that education and politics should not mix.

Last year, TAR UC received RM30mil matching grants from the government.

Founded in 1981, Kojadi offers a variety of education and business loans to its members. The loan products include SME loans, education loans for local and overseas higher education, loans for Retailers Transformation Programme (TUKAR) and Automotive Workshop Modernisation Programme (ATOM), property loan and microcredit.