PKR urges Umno not to mislead public over rural road projects

MELAKA, Oct 30 — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has urged Umno not to mislead the public about the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) directive to postpone the issuance of new Letters of Acceptance (SST) for rural road projects.

PKR deputy secretary-general Saifuddin Shafi Muhammad stressed that deferring the SST is not the same as cancelling rural development projects, as alleged by Umno secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

“Do not conflate the deferral of the SST for rural road projects with allegations of a wholesale cancellation of road, water supply and electricity projects. If there is indeed an instruction for cancellation, produce the relevant documents and the list of the projects in question,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He was commenting on Asyraf Wajdi’s statement yesterday, in which the latter, among other things, urged the MoF to withdraw its directive to cancel rural development projects in Sabah and Sarawak.

Elaborating, Saifuddin Shafi said the MoF had also suspended approvals for using the Selected Pre-Qualified Open Tender (TTPKT) method for new projects following findings in the Auditor-General’s Report concerning procurement procedures and the governance of public funds.

“However, the people want these projects to be completed. Therefore, the MoF and the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) must promptly resolve the issues raised and provide certainty regarding the implementation of affected projects,” he said.

Refuting the perception that Sarawak had been sidelined, Saifuddin Shafi said that under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership, the state’s development allocation under Budget 2026 had more than doubled to RM6 billion, compared with RM2.9 billion in 2022.

On campaign ethics, he said Asyraf Wajdi’s call for Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign machinery to conduct itself responsibly during the Melaka state election should also be practised by all parties, including Umno itself.

“I certainly agree with Umno’s call for campaigns to be conducted responsibly and ethically, but spreading superficial facts is not part of that effort,” he said.

He said party leaders must ensure their campaign machinery’s speeches and actions, whether on the campaign trail or on social media, do not cross the line, adding that they should contest elections based on facts, their track records in public service and the policies they offer to the people.

The Election Commission (EC) has set November 14 as the polling day for the Melaka state election, with nomination day scheduled for Saturday (October 31) and early voting for November 10. — Bernama

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马六甲，10月30日讯——人民公正党（PKR）敦促巫统不要就财政部推迟发放乡村道路项目新验收函（SST）的指示误导公众。

公正党副秘书长赛夫丁沙菲穆罕默德强调，推迟销售税并不等同于取消乡村发展项目，正如巫统秘书长拿督阿斯拉夫瓦吉迪杜苏基博士所声称的那样。

“不要将农村道路项目特别服务税的延期与大规模取消道路、供水和电力项目的指控混为一谈。如果确实有取消项目的指令，请拿出相关文件和项目清单，”他昨天在一份声明中说。

他是在评论阿斯拉夫·瓦吉迪昨天的声明，瓦吉迪在声明中敦促财政部撤回取消沙巴和砂拉越农村发展项目的指令。

赛义夫丁·沙菲进一步解释说，财政部还暂停了对新项目采用预选资格公开招标（TTPKT）方法的批准，此前审计长报告中发现了有关采购程序和公共资金管理的问题。

“然而，民众希望这些项目能够完成。因此，财政部和农村及区域发展部必须迅速解决提出的问题，并确保受影响项目的实施，”他说道。

针对砂拉越被边缘化的看法，赛夫丁·沙菲表示，在首相拿督斯里安华·易卜拉欣的领导下，该州在2026年财政预算案中的发展拨款已翻了一番多，达到60亿令吉，而2022年为29亿令吉。

关于竞选道德，他表示，阿斯拉夫·瓦吉迪呼吁国民阵线（国阵）竞选机构在马六甲州选举期间负责任地行事，所有政党，包括巫统自身，都应该遵循这一呼吁。

“我当然同意巫统呼吁以负责任和合乎道德的方式开展竞选活动，但散布肤浅的事实并不属于这一努力的范畴，”他说。

他表示，政党领导人必须确保其竞选机器的言论和行动，无论是在竞选活动中还是在社交媒体上，都不越界；他还补充说，他们应该根据事实、他们在公共服务中的记录以及他们向人民提出的政策来参加选举。

选举委员会已确定11月14日为马六甲州选举的投票日，提名日定于星期六（10月31日），提前投票日为11月10日。——马新社

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人民公正党敦促马六甲选民在投票前权衡候选人的过往政绩和未来计划。

沙巴警方捣毁一个武装团伙，该团伙涉嫌17起豪宅入室盗窃案，造成304,500令吉损失。