THE Dewan Rakyat has approved a sum of RM5.37 billion for the Housing and Local Government Ministry by a vote of 106-96, with 18 absent.

The Perikatan Nasional government has now passed 19 out of 27 ministry budgets for next year.

Also approved today was RM31.94 billion for the Health Ministry.

The Dewan Rakyat will tomorrow continue the budget debates for the Youth and Sports; Human Resources; and Multimedia and Communications Ministries.

The final vote for Budget 2021 is scheduled for December 15.

Earlier, the opposition failed to get Dewan Rakyat to approve a motion to cut RM8.6 million for controversial group Penggerak Komuniti Tempatan (PeKT).

Four MPs – Chang Lih Kang (Tg Malim), Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai), Hasan Karim (Pasir Gudang) and Wilfred Madius Tangau (Tuaran) – had filed motions prior to the debate on the budget for the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

“This allocation is for political reasons and is used by a certain party and individual,” said Chang, when he proposed the motion today.

The PKR vice-president said the majority of the 157 PeKT candidates that attended a ministry briefing recently were former PKR members who supported Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamarudin and Senior Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.

“A hundred and one of those who attended were former PKR members who support them.”

He said that it was irresponsible of the ministry to place PeKT under its budget. 

During the winding up on her ministry’s budget debate, Zuraida said the 157 people who were briefed have not been appointed.

“The government has given only RM8.6 million when I asked for five times more to carry out this programme throughout the country,” said the former PKR vice-president.

Zuraida and Azmin were among 10 PKR MPs who quit their party in February and caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

The former PKR leaders have now joined Bersatu, where Azmin has been appointed a Bersatu supreme council member. – December 9, 2020.