Ahmad Zahid’s Ministry Overspent RM2.1 Billion Over Three Years, Lim Guan Eng Wants MACC To Explain Why It Has Not Acted
The figures come from Treasury data. The overspending spanned 2023 to 2025. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has not announced an investigation — and that, the DAP leader says, is the question that needs answering.
DAP parliamentary leader Lim Guan Eng issued a statement today (30 Sep) calling on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate cumulative overspending of RM2.1 billion at the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development between 2023 and 2025.
According to Treasury data cited by Lim, the ministry recorded actual expenditure of RM1.8 billion against an approved allocation of RM1.1 billion in 2023.
In 2024, it spent RM2 billion against an approved RM1.3 billion.
In 2025, expenditure reached RM2.3 billion against an approved RM1.6 billion.
All three years fall within the tenure of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who helms the ministry.
A University Was Investigated for RM259 Million, A Ministry Overspent by RM2.1 Billion
Lim anchored his call on a recent precedent involving Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).
The Public Accounts Committee had found that UiTM injected RM259.98 million into its investment arm, UiTM Holdings, between 2007 and 2018 without obtaining Finance Ministry approval.
UiTM Holdings subsequently recorded cumulative pre-tax losses of RM157.04 million across 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. MACC opened an investigation into the losses in 2023.
The government has since ordered a review of the company’s management and governance.
Lim’s position: if MACC acted on RM259 million in unauthorised injections at a public university, the same standard should apply to RM2.1 billion in overspending at a federal ministry.
If the MACC takes action on UiTM but does not conduct an equivalent investigation into the rural ministry’s overspending, it would cause the public to question whether enforcement standards are being applied consistently.
Lim called on MACC to determine how the excess funds were used, whether financial procedures were breached, and whether any findings constitute a legal violation requiring prosecution.
He stopped short of alleging corruption directly.
The request is framed as a procedural accountability question — public funds, approved limits, and the gap between the two.
The matter drew wider attention on social media, where critics independently raised questions about the overspending and called for accountability.
The issue surfaced not through an audit or a whistleblower, but through Ahmad Zahid himself.
MOF’s counter-statement reframed the problem: the delays had occurred because KKDW had aggressively overcommitted its budget, exhausting RM1.9 billion of its RM2.1 billion approved 2026 rural road allocation by June — six months before the financial year closed.
To prevent contractor bankruptcies, MOF approved an emergency injection of RM300 million drawn from savings across other ministries.
The intervention resolved the immediate crisis but exposed a deeper structural question.
MACC and the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development were reached out for comment.
Zahid Hamidi kena jawab benda ni. Kenapa hampir tiap2 tahun jumlah komitmen projek jalan luar bandar bawah KKDW melebihi jumlah peruntukan yang diluluskan. #zahidhamidi#kkdw#anwaribrahim#pmx#akmalsaleh
