By Amar Shah Mohsen
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 – Former Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has described the first two years of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) 2021-2025, which was handled by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, as a failure.
The Kuala Selangor MP said although 31 per cent of the policy’s objectives have been achieved, the country saw its national debt balloon to a staggering RM1.5 trillion, as a result of leakages and mismanagement.
He pointed out that of the figure, about RM500 billion was accrued during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s time as prime minister in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If we really want to ensure the success of the 12MP in the remainder of its term, we need to focus on this debt issue,” he said when debating the policy’s mid-term review in Parliament today.
“We have failed in the first two years of the plan, where we ended up with a fiscal space that was unable to drive development, as we were too deep in debt.”
Dr Dzulkefly said in view of the leakages that led to the debt increase, there is a pressing need to strengthen the functions of the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre.
“This is vital because we saw that when the country was bracing an economic crisis, Parliament was suspended and the movement control was implemented, there were still leakages. We don’t want anyone to take advantage and steal public funds during such difficult times.”
On a separate matter, the Amanah lawmaker expressed hope that the current government’s aspiration to achieve high-income nation status within the next few years will not be mere lip service, as was the case under the previous administrations.
He noted that several past major national policies and plans rolled out during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s time as prime minister had set the objective of turning Malaysia into a high-income economy, yet it failed.
“I would like to know if we can actually achieve what we have been dreaming for so long. The rakyat is watching, and they demand accountability.”
Dr Dzulkefly said Malaysia’s frustration to achieve this target could be attributed to the premature deindustrialisation faced by the country, leading to the failure to turn manufacturing into a high-value industry.
“This is our failure, over and over again. This time, I want the Cabinet to ensure that we don’t repeat this mistake if we are serious about becoming a high-income nation.
“The big question today is whether we can re-industrialise our nation and specifically the manufacturing industry.”
