KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya has no outstanding payments to PAS-led Terengganu and has even increased the amount of petroleum royalty and development funds compared to the previous government, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
The prime minister, who is also finance minister, denied claims that his government was “cruel” to constituencies held by opposition parties.
“I want to state on record here that there are no outstanding dues by the federal government to any state, including Terengganu,” Anwar said at the Finance Ministry staff’s monthly meeting this morning.
He said Putrajaya had already fulfilled the “wang ehsan” (compassionate funds) to Terengganu from its petroleum resources for 2023 to the tune of RM786 million.
“This is to help the Terengganu government fulfil payment for its salaries and contracts.
“Other than the wang ehsan, the federal government has also fulfilled all its obligations to pay federal allocations to the state of RM413.64 million for 2023,” Anwar said.
This is higher than the RM399.12 million in 2022, when Putrajaya was under Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration, Anwar noted.
Likewise, he said that his government had increased Terengganu’s development funds to RM1.59 billion for 2024, up from the previous government’s allocation of RM1.55 billion for 2023.
Earlier this month,Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar criticised Putrajaya for allegedly owing outstanding petroleum royalty payments to the state since last year.
Samsuri, who is also Kemaman MP, raised the matter in the Dewan Rakyat on March 5.
Anwar also said today that federal funds are given to all constituencies, including those under the opposition, through a unit under the Prime Minister’s Department and not to the MPs directly.
“Terengganu, they say we deny their rights, they accuse us of being cruel. Yes, having been in the opposition before, I know you don’t get (direct) allocations.
“But we are not holding back funds. Yesterday, I met with the Implementation Coordination Unit and told them to please ensure that all constituencies, including those under PAS, receive the funds.
“It’s just that we don’t give directly to the MP, we give to the people.” – March 21, 2024