KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — To rid the country of any notion of corruption and pilferage, the government has cancelled RM7 billion in projects awarded directly under the Jana Wibawa scheme and will retender RM15 billion worth of flood mitigation projects.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the decision when tabling Budget 2023 and said the move could save the country some RM3 billion.

"Government projects and acquisitions need to be open and transparent. We cannot be pilfering public funds and abusing the system using the direct negotiations method,” he said.

"After re-tendering the projects openly, the country can save up to RM3 billion. This savings can be redistributed into other public projects,” he said.

Anwar said that he wanted to clear the name of the country and prove that a Malay-Muslim person could be respected for his integrity and principles of fairness in the country.

"This unity government is proposing to table the Government Procurement Act again as soon as possible,” he said, adding that it was previously discussed in Parliament in 2019 but was postponed.

He said that government agencies like the Inland Revenue Board, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and Royal Malaysia Police will be active in investigating any allegations of corruption including those mentioned in the Pandora Papers.

"The IRB will continue to investigate sudden wealth and windfalls to prevent the crime of corruption from spreading.

"The people are impatient for change, and I cannot wait to step into a renewed government management style that is fast, efficient and transparent,” he said.

To that end, he said that the government will enhance and table the Whistleblowers Protection Act this year to help erase fear and pressure on informers.