Close to 40 percent of projects outlined in the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) had failed to reach full implementation.

The Prime Minister's Department said this in a written reply to Rantau Panjang MP Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff who had asked the prime minister to state 10MP's achievements as well as shortcomings.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim said as of May 11 this year, 11,894 projects, both physical and non-physical in nature, were supposed to be implemented in the last five years of 10MP.

From this figure, 61.5 percent had been completed while 38.5 percent of the projects were in "various stages of implementation".

"The remaining 38.5 percent of projects yet to be implemented will be carried out in the next five years," said Shahidan.

In the lead-up to the unveiling of the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP), DAP Sabah had complained that most of the plans laid down for one of the poorest states in the country in the 10MP had not been met and that no report card had ever been prepared to assess the plan's progress.

Sandakan MP Stephen Wong was reported saying these included proper roads and supply of clean water and electricity.

Soon after the 11MP was unveiled last week, a thinktank said the blueprint could only bring meaningful progress if it could be implemented with proper monitoring and evaluation of weaknesses that led to the previous plan's failure.

Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) chairperson Ramon Navaratnam had said that monitoring was insufficient in 10MP as many initiatives fell short of their targets, leading to delays and additional costs.

"Such weaknesses must be addressed to prevent individuals from taking advantage of the system," he had said.