Pejabat Kemajuan Khas bypass Kerajaan Negeri-negeri PR

Eokboy · Post time 24-9-2009 11:13 AM

Sidelining Pakatan Rakyat states24 Sep 09 :  8.00AM
By Deborah Loh
deborahloh@thenutgraph.com

ARE federal earnings funded by taxpayers  in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states returning to benefit the public in those  states?
What's clear in the case of Selangor is that funds are used fordevelopment but are not channelled through the state government. Thathas become clear in Penang as well, where promised funds for Georgetown's  heritage status have not been delivered to the PR-governed state.
In the second and final part of an interview  with The Nut Graph, Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumartalks about the round-about manner in which the federal governmenthandles funding meant for the state through various ministries. Itappears to be similar to the problems opposition Members of Parliament face when requesting for the Prime Minister's  special constituency fund.
Xavier, who is the Sri Andalas assemblyperson from Parti KeadilanRakyat, says that as a result, it is unclear how much and for whatpurpose federal funds for state development are used.

TNG: The Selangor government has been accused of incompetency. How has it  been learning the ropes of governance?

Xavier Jayakumar: I agree that we didn't expect tobe ruling Selangor. And it is not easy because Selangor is the richest,most developed state and the demands are tremendous. I think we've cometo a stage where we understand better how the system works. I think weunderstand at least 80% to 90% of how the system works. We areencouraged that we can now move into implementation of projects andprogrammes.
But at the same time there is a lot of federal governmentinterference in terms of limiting our financial resources. Of thefederal government's revenue for income tax alone, 24% comes fromSelangor. Previously, there were a lot of federal projects that wereimplemented in Selangor through the state government at the time. Butnow the funds are not coming in the sense that the state is not giventhe privilege to access these funds. The funds are being disbursedthrough different sources without the state government having any sayas to how they are allocated.

Meaning,  federal agencies in the state?

Yes, the funds go directly to them without  going through the state. They have a Special  Development Office (SDO)  which they opened in Glenmarie, and the funding goes through that office  without involving the state system.
For example, previously the Ministry  of Rural  and Regional Developmentused to give the state money to service all the kampungs and ruralareas. Now we don't have the funds at all. We are being pressured by[ketua-ketua] kampung for basic amenities in their villages. Funds fromthe Housing and Local GovernmentMinistry for things like parks, recreational areas and the environmenthave also dried up. The ministry conducts its own programmes throughthe SDO. The town councils don't get those funds anymore. Whatever theSDO does with federal funds given to it, the state government doesn'tknow.

That is going to pose problems in  terms of overlap, isn't it?

Yes, it's already happening. The Youth and  Sports Ministry is building  futsal courts and playgrounds here and there without permission from  the town councils.

What can  the town council do when it finds out?

They have to stop it. They are putting up structures which don'thave permission. Actually, we're not saying stop the building. Wewelcome it, but why not go through the proper channel? We want ouryouths to have amenities like futsal courts and basketball courts. Thefederal funds are there anyway. Every ministry has a chunk of money tospend for Selangor. Since they have to spend it, we just want them togo through the proper channel. Otherwise, how do you keep track of howmuch was spent and the quality of work done? How are you answerable tothe Auditor-General? Who will the Auditor-General get the informationfrom? Because the officers in the land office and district office whichused to oversee the implementation of projects have now been supplantedby the SDO.

Is the state's shortage of funds why  the Menteri Besar suggested using funds from Baitulmal? Tan Sri Khalid  Ibrahim was criticised  for it.

Baitulmal is just an idea the MB put forth for all tax payers inSelangor. Baitulmal is just the term used. It might sound Islamic orArabic, but it means it is a type of funding where we are saying,rather than you paying tax to the federal government, you might as wellpay to the state.
Under federalism, the federal government is supposed to share some80% of revenue with the states. That is the way it's done inwell-developed democracies. That is also the formula in the BN-ruledstates.

But isn't the objective of Baitulmal  to help Muslims?

It was supposed to be a new fund. The  state doesn't have an existing Baitulmal fund.

There's some confusion. The state  does have a Baitulmal fund managed by the religious authorities,  right?

That is zakat and collection of money from Muslims. That isdifferent. The Baitulmal the MB proposed will not come under theSelangor Religious Council. Baitulmal will come under the state, undera new purpose vehicle.
So will it really happen?

It was just an idea that was thrown out. It would take a long time for implementation.

In the short term,  what is being done to increase revenue?

Our revenue sources are from land taxes, development taxes, quitrent and special taxes. Our budget is RM1.4 billion. Half of that goesto emoluments. But we can run on the other half and we have a soundfixed deposit which we can run on for another three years.
But this year we expect a budget deficit with the economic downturn.Our tax collection may not achieve what we expect. That's why weapproved additional budget expenditure of RM120 million in the Julystate assembly sitting. Next year's budget most probably might be areduced budget because of the economy and reduced collection.
We are also encouraging business [people] to develop in the state.We'll be announcing some new strategies. And we're encouraging foreigninvestors to open up businesses here in Science Park 2 and in Pulau  Indah. There have been quite  a number of inquiries.

What about PKR as a whole, is the  party learning to behave like a ruling party?

The party has changed in that we are coming to terms with being theruling government in some states. Some of us have to learn that togovern, we cannot act like the opposition anymore. You cannot beantagonistic with the civil service or your work gets delayed. You haveto learn how to work the system to get things done. The party isaddressing this through seminars for leaders and councillors.

http://www.thenutgraph.com/sidelining-pakatan-rakyat-states

Baguslah ada SDO nih, kang menjadi2 plak rasuah org PR yg suka sgt seleweng duit peruntukan. Sama cam royalti minyak Terengganu dulu, duit cukai dan khazanah negara sume hak kerajaan BN. Kalau bagi kat PR alamat lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama.

awangbok · Post time 24-9-2009 11:14 AM

jahat betoi umno ni.

IceMallet · Post time 24-9-2009 11:22 AM

Tapi rasa2 yer mcm kt Selangor, kerajaan amenok dulu yg byk seleweng duit..biler ada peruntukan direct dr federal kpd Pejabat Kemajuan Khas ni, alamt yer masyuk la org2 amenok kt negeri PR dapat kelepet duit

Acong · Post time 24-9-2009 11:45 AM

Parti BiNatang bangsat...........!

ZamZamAlaKazam · Post time 24-9-2009 11:52 AM

... macam la duit tu dorang yang punya kan ...

ikut ske je cm ne nk belanja kn

... ingat orang x dpt menilai ke, tunggu je la pilihanraya akan datang nie

IceMallet · Post time 24-9-2009 11:56 AM

seronok org2 amenok kt negeri PR..sure depa ingat akan jadi susah bile amenok tak memerintah, last2 dapat jugak kelepet duit rakyat....masyukkkkkkkkk

melia_star · Post time 24-9-2009 12:00 PM

seroperlah yg kene kt Kelantan sblm2 nih.....dasar bajingannn........

cmf_acura · Post time 24-9-2009 12:01 PM

kelantan..dah lama kena.....melaluai jabatan pembangunan persekutuan....
inilah cara bangsat perintah negara......
memang bangsat.....
btw...kita tuntut di akhirat..amanah yg tidak ditunaiokan itu......
mampus lah sapa yg bertanggung jawab....

orang BN ni pulak bashalol..mengaku duit gov..duit bn.....
royalti minyak kelantan pun entah kemana....