Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak gave misleading replies on the status of projects under the 9th Malaysian Plan (9MP) to the Dewan Rakyat, claimed Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng.

parliament dap mp pc on dbkl 201108 lim lip eng Responding to a question from Setiawangsa MP Zulhasnan Rafique, Lim said the premier, during the April sitting of Parliament, announced that 705 projects under the plan were on hold.

“However, in a written reply to me, he said that 11 projects are still on hold,” Lim added.

The cost of the 11 9MP projects on hold being RM82 million, Lim asked for the cost of the 705 projects that the prime minister had earlier said were on hold.

“I believe the premier is trying to confuse Parliament with conflicting answers,” he said.

He also queried the tabling of the 10th Malaysian Plan when issues involving 9MP had yet to be resolved.

Fragment of bigger problem

Lim said he believes Najib’s revelation of outstanding projects under the 9MP is merely a fragment of a much bigger problem faced by the country.

He pointed out that many of the answers given to opposition parliamentarians cannot be verified because statistics related to 9MP projects are closely guarded by government agencies.

He also accused Najib and his administration of using this misinformation to “cover up their weaknesses”.

Taking the example of an unfinished RM40 million road widening project in Segambut, Lim said they expect the premier to announce a slew of mega-projects under the 10MP with the promise that it will benefit the people, only to let them down.

“This only reinforces my belief that the answers given to the rakyat in parliament by the BN government are mostly wrong, false and lies,” he said.

The 9MP was unveiled in early 2006 during the tenure of Najib’s predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, with a total development budget of RM200 billion over the plan’s five-year period.

When announcing the 9MP, Abdullah said it “allows us to identify the progress we have made, identify weaknesses and put us on track to achieve developed nation status by 2020.”