Corridor authorities to be streamlined to focus on realising investments - Rafizi

KUALA LUMPUR: The MADANI government has decided that the economic corridor authorities (PBK) will be streamlined and focus only on efforts to realise the approved investments, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said.

He said this meant that the PBK’s functions involving infrastructure, water, socioeconomy, and poverty would be re-centralised to other federal agencies in order to prevent duplications.

“The Economy Ministry is now in the process of reviewing and streamlining these functions. The process at the administrative level is ongoing and I hope that some of the amendments to the act to streamline those functions will be presented to Parliament in the upcoming sitting,” he said when winding up the debate on the Auditor General’s Report (LKAN) on his ministry’s behalf in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Rafizi noted the agency under the Ministry of Economy’s purview is the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) corridor authority, and the LKAN audit this time focuses on projects and programmes implemented in the ECER corridor under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) to 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) as well as the ECER Master Plan, which began in 2008, up to Dec 31, 2022.

“There are five corridor authorities in our country, which are mandated under their respective acts, enacted between 2007 and 2008.

“In addition, the corridors in Sabah and Sarawak were established under the ordinances of the respective state governments and their previous function was socioeconomic planning and development across a wide range of areas, not only investment,” he said.

He pointed out that even before the LKAN decision was issued, the MADANI government was aware that there were a few things that needed attention in relation to overlapping duties and allocations.

According to LKAN 2/24, the achievement level of projects and programmes planned by the East Coast Economic Development Council (ECERDC) for the 9MP-12MP period has exceeded 90 per cent.

A total of 99, or 90.8 per cent, of the 109 projects and programmes have been implemented with 77 projects completed while 22 projects and programmes are still under implementation with three at the planning stage, 11 at the design stage and eight at the construction stage.