KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Putrajaya must issue a “white paper” detailing the money it has purportedly lost since the administration of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, urged a group calling itself Citizens for Accountable Governance Malaysia (CAGM) today.
The group said the comprehensive report will be a guide for future prime ministers to not dip their hands into “unwanted projects” that might cause financial losses to Malaysia.
“Malaysia has been subjected to many financial losses, bailouts, wastages and unwanted projects that caused billions to disappear from the country’s coffers since the days of Tun Dr Mahathir,” CAGM’s chairman Md Zainal Abidin said in a statement.
“Besides exorcising the ghosts of the past, this White Paper will ensure there is full commitment to accountability, transparency and good democratic governance.”
According to CAGM, no less than RM100 billion has gone “missing” from the country’s coffers since the 1990s.
It suggested that the white paper’s terms of reference be publishing the actual extent of losses from Dr Mahathir’s administration until now, and the list of all projects that needed billions of ringgit of bailouts from Putrajaya and those who benefited from the bailouts.
CAGM also called for a special committee to study the financial mistakes made by past prime ministers, and publish its findings to the public.
“The Government must present this White Paper if it is serious about wanting to stamp out corruption, waste, extravagance and abuses of power running into billions of ringgit of public funds,” Md Zainal said.
