EPU Sabah regrets Hiew’s unfounded attacks

KOTA KINABALU: State Economic Planning Unit (EPU) director Datuk Ismail Abdullah regretted that DAP Luyang assemblyman Hiew King Cheu continues with his ill-conceived and unfounded attack on the state EPU and the Sabah government.
Ismail said this was evident from Hiew’s continued action in citing the purported written reply to his question during the last Parliamentary session that RM10.9 billion of the Ninth Malaysia Plan development allocations were not spent.

“I do not know in what context was his question framed and in what context the written answer was given, if what Hiew (photo) said was true.

“All I know is my figures are correct based on the official data that we have. There is simply nothing ridiculous about them. It is a fact. Eighty-nine per cent was spent during the 9th Malaysia Plan! No two ways about it,” he said in a statement here, today.

Ismail said that the state EPU and state government were being professional about the whole thing.

“I wonder if, during his term previously as a Member of Parliament (former MP for Kota Kinabalu), Hiew did learn about how development projects were planned, how projects were evaluated, selected and approved, how ceilings and budgets for various development projects were allocated, how projects were then executed and monitored.

“It is important to understand the process and procedures as well as terminologies and timing involved so that figures are read and interpreted accurately in its proper context,” added Ismail.

In making his point, Ismail further clarified that under the current 10^th Malaysia Plan, spending for the first two years were 78 per cent and 87 per cent respectively, giving an average of 82.5 per cent.

“We still have roughly two and half years to go till the end of the 10^th Malaysia Plan, and implementation will definitely intensify.

“So how come Hiew is coming up with spent allocation and procedures as well as terminologies and timing involved so that figures are read and interpreted accurately in its proper context,” he said.

He said there was no need to ask state EPU to check the figure because the figures were with the state government and the federal department concerned all the time, and the figures that state EPU gave were established figures.

“Anyway, any unspent amount or unimplemented project would definitely invite scrutiny from the Audit Department,” he said.

Ismail hoped “Hiew can now put the matter to rest and refrain from making further untrue statements regarding this matter in order to try to belittle the government”.