Dewan Rakyat Passes Motion On Auditor-General's Report 1/2026

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- The Dewan Rakyat today passed the motion on the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) 1/2026 on the Financial Statements of Federal Agencies for 2024, which revealed 273 new issues involving financial management and governance at the federal and state levels.

The motion, tabled by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, was approved by a majority voice vote after being debated by 35 MPs.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, when winding up the debate on the motion for the Prime Minister’s Department, said the government confirmed that the Lot 61 Bangsar Development Project, which was delayed by 1,731 days and saw a significant increase in costs, had now received conditional approval for a partial Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) for the operation of its parking facility.

He said the conditional approval for the Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad (PHB) project was received yesterday and was still awaiting confirmation and official approval from the One Stop Centre (OSC) of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

“The increase in construction costs occurred because the scope of the project expanded compared with the original approval, including the addition of parking components, part of Tower 3 as well as infrastructure works such as an underpass.

“In addition, the implementation of the project during a period of instability in the construction market caused an increase in building material costs as well as additional technical solutions at the (project) site,” he said during the session.

Fadillah, who is also Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, said general costs also increased in line with the extension of the project period, including financial charges that accrued throughout the period when construction had yet to be completed.

Commenting on the resolution measures, he said PHB had held discussions with DBKL to postpone the construction of the underpass and to carry out the widening of the access road from Jalan Bangsar to Jalan Maarof as a temporary traffic dispersal measure to improve traffic flow around the project site while awaiting full CCC approval.

In winding up for the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), Deputy Minister Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu said PR1MA Malaysia had implemented regular financial monitoring to ensure the continuity of loan repayments guaranteed by the government.

She explained that the measure included cash flow assessments, sales revenue projections and analysis of debt repayment capability, as part of a risk mitigation plan to reduce the possibility of payment default.

“In addition, PR1MA is examining a staggered principal repayment structure to ensure suitability with current cash flow and to reduce financial pressure,” she said during the winding-up session.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Chan Foong Hin, when winding up the debate for the ministry, said there was no leakage involving the use of development allocations of the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) during the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK12) period.

He said this was because the development allocation was used for operational expenditure of projects that were critical and specific in nature, and had a direct and clear relationship with the implementation of approved research and development components as well as technology transfer.

“For example, expenditure transactions such as travel claims by research officers for a project to collect research data, field monitoring and activities related to research and technology transfer,” he said.

He said expenditure using development allocations by MARDI was to support the implementation of RDCI (research, development, commercialisation and innovation) project activities and not operating expenditure for the institute’s management or general administration.

Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Chang Lih Kang, when winding up the debate for his ministry, stressed that there was no leakage in the governance or procurement of the MyDigital ID project.

He said the audit remark regarding expenditure amounting to RM28.13 million that did not obtain approval from the stipulated committee occurred due to confusion following changes in the committee structure that had caused inconsistencies during the decision-making process in the implementation of the project.

Chang said the MyDigital ID project had recorded 9.7 million registrations so far and had been integrated with 92 government and private applications across various sectors, including telecommunications, finance and health.

On the same issue, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran said the project was still under implementation and therefore the National Audit Department (JAN) could at any time carry out a comprehensive audit to assess the impact of the project.

In another development, Kulasegaran said the audit report on the financial statements of the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB) was scheduled to be tabled in LKAN 1/2027.

“The financial statements of LPQB for 2008 to 2012 and 2013 to 2016 were submitted to JAN on Jan 16, 2026, and Feb 24, 2026, respectively, and JAN is currently carrying out an audit of those financial statements.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting resumes tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA