SHAH ALAM, June 1 — Tired of seeing the deplorable road conditions or unresolved drainage issues in your area yet inundated with bureaucracy and lack of funding for immediate remedial?
Acknowledging said concerns, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli revealed today the federal government’s proposal to |democratize” small allocations for projects involving community welfare in the near future — a responsibility commonly shouldered by local elected representatives and councillors.
Recounting his experience as an elected representative, Rafizi said local issues such as those concerning maintenance of roads, community amenities or drainage in urban areas were tedious in nature due to existing bureaucracy between different authorities.
“God-willing, we are in the midst of planning to have a sizeable allocation for the aforementioned projects where said allocations could be directly applied from my ministry from anyone in Malaysia.
“This is considered a win-win situation for all.
“As citizens, we should know we have a stake in taxpayer’s money,” he said in his speech during a mid-term review of the 12th Malaysian Plan engagement session here.
Rafizi said all Malaysians would be welcomed to make their respective application, with final approvals still subjected to the ministry’s discretion.
“Everyone regardless of their background would have equal opportunity to apply for said allocations.
“Or else the minister in charge of said allocations, like myself, would become too powerful,” he said.
Rafizi said the system will go live in mid-June as the ministry is currently in the final stages of fine-tuning before an official announcement on the launch is made.
Without revealing much, Rafizi said conditions will be imposed and the applications will only be limited to small-scale local projects.
He said successful applications would be processed within a month, greatly shortening the timespan needed for full allocation approval at present which could take months or even years.
