Don’t expect Putrajaya to bear extra costs from states’ decisions, says Anwar

Don’t expect Putrajaya to bear extra costs from states’ decisions, says Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR: The federal government cannot be expected to automatically foot the bill for additional project costs arising from decisions made by state governments, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said any request for additional federal allocations or loans through a notice of change (NOC) must be renegotiated, especially when project costs increase.

“The federal government cannot be trapped by decisions made at the state level and be expected to automatically provide additional allocations or loans when problems arise.

“That is why I say that the (state-federal) relations must be good,” he said during the Prime Minister’s Question Time.

Anwar was responding to Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang), who raised the issue of upgrade works at the Pelubang water treatment plant (WTP) in Jitra, Kedah.

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The PAS MP said the project was being financed through a federal government loan to the Kedah government.

He said the project now required the approval of an NOC for an additional RM113 million, while the loan disbursement process took five months, prompting the state government to pay RM40 million upfront to prevent delays in project implementation.

He also asked whether Putrajaya was ready to expedite the NOC approval process and disbursement of loans, and create a more efficient funding process so that strategic projects such as WTPs and flood mitigation projects do not face delays at the federal level