It is the federal government's policy not to give development funds to opposition parties' assemblypersons or Parliamentarians for the economic improvement of their constituencies.

The opposition politicians will continue to be sidelined for development funds as BN does not want them to get political mileage over such allocations.

This startling fact was revealed to Malaysiakini by the head of Perak State Development Department, which is attached to the Prime Minister's Department.

Zainal Abidin Omar said: "All MPs development funds come from the Prime Minister's Department. BN MPs are allocated RM1 million annually while opposition held areas are allocated half this amount".

"It is the government's policy not to give directly such development funds to opposition politicians as BN does not want them to get the credit or political mileage over the allocations," he said.

"Many opposition politicians have come to my office and argued over this issue that the funds belong to the public and as such they should be allowed to handle such allocations.

"However, the fact is that it is the government's policy not to let the opposition get political mileage over such funds," he revealed.

Allocation being withheld

"The only solution to this impasse is either the government changes this political stand, or there is a change in the government at federal level," he told Malaysiakini .

Many Perak Pakatan politicians complained that they could not bring about economic development to their constituencies as the development funds allocated for their areas are being withheld.

"We prefer to channel such funds through BN component parties that are in opposition held areas so that the credit goes to BN instead of the opposition," he reasoned.

"One thing we have to be clear about is that the Prime Minister's funding is for the respective areas irrespective of who holds jurisdiction and this is where we come into the picture," he said.

However, he was quick to state that no development funds are handled directly by any politician whether by BN or the opposition.

The procedure is for them to give details of their development proposals to the respective district officers who will then verify the facts before submitting it to the state development department.

Once vetted and cleared, the funds will be paid directly to the parties concerned in the development projects.

Zainal said in addition to the annual allocation of RM500,000, another RM300,000 is given for application of additional projects in the respective areas.

Guidelines for funding

The RM500,000 development funds for opposition held areas are split according to the composition of the BN component parties in such areas.

"Guidelines for such projects are given to Umno, MCA or MIC local leaders for them to come up with the proposals and there is no direct funding to the opposition," he said.

The RM500,000 fund is allocated into three categories - for celebrations of festivals, buying of equipment like computers and small projects like drains, roads and housing.

When asked, how the department keeps track of such funds from being misused, he said "We have our own mechanisms of counter checking if there are abuses".

When asked if there has been abuse of such funds by politicians, he said: "Thus far no, but if we receive such reports from the public, then NONE we will take the necessary action".

Another additional revolving fund of RM30,000 is allocated for disasters for each constituency, he said.

As for the opposition assemblypersons, their annual allocation is RM200,000 and this is handled by Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir.

"If they require such development funds, they can personally apply directly to Zambry (right) ," said Zainal.