Under public pressure, Putrajaya working on transparency, claims PAC chief

SUBANG JAYA, April 25 — The federal government is doing its best to convince the public that it is spending wisely, amid increasing demands for accountability over the use of public funds, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said today.

He said the public has become more aware and critical of Putrajaya’s spending habits as the government’s expenditure continues to rise each year.

“People are getting more aware and want the government to be more transparent,” he said when met on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony for Sunway College students here.

Earlier in his speech, Nur Jazlan said the federal government is aware of the public perception that it is spending public funds unwisely.

“I will be honest here. As many of you know, I am the chairman of PAC. That means we have the ability to scrutinise the government’s expenditure.

“Many of you, I suppose, think a lot of that public expenditure is not used rightly. All of us have perceptions. But I can tell you that the government and PAC are trying to change that perception,” he said.

Earlier this month, Nur Jazlan complained that the federal government has not taken the PAC seriously, saying that they were not kept in the loop on decisions made by Putrajaya following the parliamentary committee’s recommendations.

He also claimed that the Finance Ministry has not once informed the PAC on any progress in the implementation of the committee’s recommendations, despite having a specific provision under the Treasury Order that requires the Finance Ministry to present a report to the PAC as soon as possible.

Last month, Putrajaya sought an additional RM2.2 billion to top up Budget 2015, barely two months after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak revised downwards the national budget to reflect the sharp drop in global crude oil prices and major flooding that ravaged the country’s east coast states.

Najib, in his January announcement, cut operating expenditure by RM5.5 billion though the country’s development budget was maintained at RM48.5 billion.

Last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tabled a budget of RM273.9 billion for this year, an increase of RM9.8 billion from 2014.