PUTRAJAYA: Chief Secretary to the Government (KSN), Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, today reminded civil servants, particularly those in ministries, to ensure spending is made in accordance with allocations approved under the national budget.
“In the civil service, we must spend according to what has been budgeted,” he told reporters after the closing ceremony of the Public Sector AI Seminar 2026 and the Public Sector AI Nexus Challenge 2026 awards presentation here today.
He was responding to questions over the issue involving the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Rural and Regional Development Ministry (KKDW) concerning allocations for rural road projects.
On Wednesday (Sept. 2), Treasury Secretary-General, Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican, said there had been no restrictions on KKDW’s allocations for rural road projects and that the full allocation for the projects had been disbursed.
He said constraints in payments to contractors arose because almost all of the ministry’s allocation for the current year had already been spent.
The issue emerged following remarks by Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, over difficulties faced by contractors due to delayed payments for projects under his ministry.
Ahmad Zahid said the situation had affected contractors carrying out government projects and stressed the need to resolve the matter to prevent payment problems from persisting. – BERNAMA
