KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Barisan Nasional (BN) claimed it has achieved 99.4 per cent of its promises since it was voted in as the federal government in 2013.
In its own report card, BN based its 99.4 per cent score on its claimed success in achieving 100 per cent for each of its 16 initiatives that were promised to Malaysian voters in its 13th general election (GE13) manifesto.
The 16 initiatives promised by the ruling BN in 2013 included easing living costs, uplifting the well-being of urban residents, providing affordable housing, access to quality healthcare, pushing for efficient public transportation services, as well as developing world class infrastructure and rural transformation.
BN had also promised initiatives covering the economy, education, improving safety, strengthening women's participation, fulfilling youths’ aspirations, planning a social safety net, combating corruption, improving public services and governance, preserving natural resources, and promoting a global movement of moderates.
The only initiative which BN said it did not manage to implement fully in its five-year term since 2013 was the promotion of Islam and religious freedom and harmony, giving itself a grade of 91.7 per cent.
On BN’s pledge of building one million affordable homes, the ruling coalition said it has completed construction of 15 per cent or 145,983 units. A total of 31 per cent or 310,498 units are under construction.
Another 45 per cent or 447,750 units are in the planning stage, while the remaining nine per cent or 95,769 units have been committed to, but with locations yet to be decided on.
The remaining 15.1 per cent or 927 projects valued at RM288.37 billion are in progress, while just 0.4 per cent or 23 projects valued at RM780 million are at the planning stage.
Under its pledge for educational excellence, BN's report card said RM2.61 billion was spent on scholarships benefiting 49,890 students from 2013 to 2017, with the bulk or RM1.55 billion used to sponsor 44,000 students for university degrees within the country.
BN said 3,254 teachers who did not have university degrees benefited from a government programme to pursue such qualifications, while clean water supply was provided to 202 schools — namely 110 in Peninsular Malaysia, 80 in Sabah, and 12 in Sarawak.
It also listed repair and maintenance works at schools involving 4,923 projects in Peninsular Malaysia, 775 in Sarawak and 409 in Sabah. RM19.20 million was used to increase reading materials in 3,348 primary schools and 2,918 secondary schools.
The RM88.93 million programme to improve the mastery of English saw the training of 602 teachers and a focus on 1,191 schools, where students' English passing rate was at a maximum of 23 per cent. A total of 300 of those schools scored a 32 per cent increase in average marks.
Free WiFi was provided to 20 public universities, while 9,249 schools used the online learning platform 1BestariNet and 389,756 1Malaysia Netbooks were given to students from low-income families in rural areas (below RM700 monthly household income) and urban areas (RM1,500 to RM3,000 monthly household income).
Other education-related aid from the government included the allocation of RM12.41 million that benefited 800 children from the B40 or low-income group, the report card showed.
The report card said 63,291 heads of household were registered as hardcore poor category in the government's national poverty database e-Kasih, while another 138,977 were registered in the poor category.
The Public Services Department had offered Federal Training Award (HLP) scholarships for 2,650 civil servants to further their studies to get a degree or postgraduate qualifications (PhD). A total of 1,705 other government servants went for short courses as part of BN's promise for an improved civil service, the report card said.
As for the provision of quality healthcare, BN's report card showed that seven cancer centres nationwide costing RM1.04 billion had received 276,530 visits, while there were 383,118 visits to 11 heart centres costing RM29 million. The report card did not state when these centres were built.
It said RM1.6 billion in government funds are allocated annually for 40,000 kidney patients and that 2.4 million visits were made to 19 dialysis centres throughout the country.
In seeking to fulfil the youth's aspirations, the report card touted WiFi Komuniti centres that provided internet access to 3,874 villages and 890,239 1Malaysia gyms as of September 2017. BN also highlighted the creation of 1Malaysia For Youth (iM4U), which now has two million volunteers, that held 7,675 activities from 2013 to 2017.
The report card also noted the MyCorp initiative where 2,180 youths were sent to do volunteer work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lebanon, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Turkey.
The 47-page BN report card was issued ahead of the coalition's April 7 launch of its manifesto for the 14th general election.
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