I have submitted a motion to refer Wee Ka Siong to the Rights and Privileges Committee. He should answer the questions, not make this personal.
In the Dewan Rakyat, Wee said that every additional ringgit must receive Ministry of Finance approval and be included in a supplementary budget. Yet his subsequent response did not identify a single supplementary budget approved by Parliament for the KKDW expenditure in question between 2023 and 2025.
I have examined the relevant budget documents and parliamentary records and found no supplementary budget covering the expenditure concerned. If Wee maintains otherwise, he should produce the documents and state when the additional allocation was tabled, how much Parliament approved and which expenditure it covered.
Why has he avoided this central question? Has he now discovered that there was no such supplementary budget for those three years?
Explaining how financial procedures are supposed to work does not establish that those procedures were followed. Wee must address the actual expenditure and approvals involved.
If he insists that KKDW increased its expenditure only after obtaining MOF approval, he must also explain Deputy Prime Minister and KKDW Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s earlier statement that many contractors had completed their work but had not been paid.
Expenditure under the Rural Roads Programme (JALB) had already exceeded the original allocation. Why were contractors allowed to continue working? Who authorised the work, and were sufficient funds and the necessary approvals in place before those instructions were issued?
Project approval, funding approval and payment are separate matters. Simply saying that MOF approval is required does not explain why work proceeded, why contractors remained unpaid or whether commitments exceeded the annual allocation.
Did KKDW instruct contractors to proceed before obtaining the necessary approval and funding, or was Zahid’s account untrue? Is Wee suggesting that Zahid was lying?
If Wee believes there is another explanation, he should produce the approval documents, allocation records and payment schedule. Parliament and the public deserve a clear account.
I have written to bring this matter to the Speaker’s attention and formally submitted notice of a motion to refer Wee to the Rights and Privileges Committee under Standing Order 36(12), over statements which I contend gave a misleading impression to the House.
Whether his statements constitute misleading the House should be considered through the parliamentary process. Wee must substantiate what he said in the Dewan Rakyat.
My position is straightforward. How public money was approved, why work was allowed to proceed and why contractors remained unpaid must all be explained. If Wee wants to defend KKDW, he should answer these questions instead of making this about himself.