Published: Saturday November 28, 2009 MYT 2:31:00 PM
Updated: Saturday November 28, 2009 MYT 3:41:01 PM
S’wak orders probe on alleged funds misappropriation
By STEPHEN THEN
MIRI: The Sarawak Cabinet has ordered an internal investigations into claims made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) that up to 60 percent of Government allocations for vital infrastructure projects in this state between 2002 and 2008 had been misappropriated by certain quarters responsible for handling these projects.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam Saturday said the state government's internal audit department would carry out a detailed probe into the allegations to establish the truth of the matter.
''We also want the MACC to give us a full and detailed briefing on their claims," he said.
''Money meant for public projects must benefit the targetted groups. Any abuse of these funds cannot be tolerated. We must be very clear on this,'' he said Saturday when commenting on a statement by MACC Deputy Commissioner Datuk Zakaria Jaffar that the MACC had uncovered cases in Sarawak where up to 60 percent of Government allocations had been ''diverted'' away from the projects for which the funds were meant.
Zakaria made the shocking revelations in state capital Kuching during an anti-corruption seminar a few days ago.
Zakaria claimed that such misappropriation of funds had happened between 2002 and last year and that MACC investigations had shown that only 40 percent of the money given by the Government for the projects were spent on the projects proper while the other 60 percent were leaked to elsewhere.
Zakaria however, did not disclose the identity of these projects, the total amount of Government allocations involved, in which part of Sarawak they were carried out or the ministries or agencies responsible for these projects.
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