LIM TO REQUEST EXTRA RM19.6B
2nd reading of Supplementary Supply Bill today
FINANCE Minister Lim Guan Eng is expected to table a proposal today for an additional RM19.6 billion to supplement the 2018 Budget’s expenditure.
It will be Lim’s second reading of the Supplementary Supply (2018) Bill 2019, which had its first reading last Wednesday.
From the requested funds, the government intends to allocate RM15.48 billion for the budget’s development expenditure, while the remaining RM4.13 billion will be reserved
for operational expenditure.
Out of the allocation, the treasury is expected to receive the biggest chunk at RM9.2 billion, followed by the Works Ministry at RM1.9 billion. In the 2018 Budget, the allocation for development was RM46 billion. Reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday questioned Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof on his comment on the Lynas Advanced Material Plant in Gebeng, Pahang.
Redzuan, who is facing brickbats over his “flying car” proposal, claimed the cabinet had agreed to allow the plant to continue its operations as “its investment is too big to ignore”.
He said issues concerning rare earth waste removal were of a separate matter and efforts to send the waste to Australia were not feasible.
On Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin’s stand on Lynas, Redzuan said she would have to be “responsible for her statements”.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh told off Redzuan and said matters concerning Lynas were not under his ministry.
Fuziah, who is Kuantan member of parliament and has been at the forefront opposing Lynas, said: “This has nothing to do with the Entrepreneur Development Ministry. He (Redzuan) does not have locus standi. I have locus standi and I maintain my stand.”
Yeo has yet to respond to the issue.