Idris Jala denies paying consultants hundreds of millions

Jala said claims Pemandu had doled out hundreds of millions to consultancies were grossly exaggerated. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Consultants engaged by Pemandu are being paid from its budget of RM40 million and not the bulk of a RM729.4 million budget as alleged, said Datuk Seri Idris Jala today.

The Performance Management and Delivery Unit CEO and minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said claims that its operating budget for 2011 was RM729.4 million were “1,822 per cent exaggerated”.

He further pointed out that its actual budget of RM40 million was also being used for other purposes besides consultants, including manpower costs, “assets under existing and new policies”, workshops, research, travel and logistics and media costs.

According to figures provided by Jala, the RM729 million figure could have been derived from totalling up Pemandu’s operating budget of RM40 million together with the National Key Result Areas’ (NKRA) operating budget of RM334 million and the National Key Economic Areas’ (NKEA) operating budget of RM355 million.

The NKRA and NKEA budgets are parked under relevant ministries, including RM334 million under the Prime Minister’s Department (PMO).

“None of this money is paid to consultants as alleged,” said Jala in a statement to the media.

He added that although the budget allocation was parked under the PMO, there was a clear approval and tracking process in place to ensure that the allocated amount was used to produce the results outlined in the GTP (Government Transformation Programme) Roadmap.

Liew claimed Jala’s portfolio had become an impromptu and costly ministry. — file pic

“It must be stated clearly that final decisions for spending the money is done collectively by the NKRA Steering Committee, which includes all involved parties, and this is chaired by the deputy prime minister,” stressed the Pemandu CEO.

The clarification came after DAP Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong issued a statement to the media last week saying Jala’s portfolio — dubbed “Kementerian Idris Jala” or KIJa — was a costly new ministry which would benefit international consulting firms.

Liew claimed that the total cost of “KIJa” was about RM6.19 billion for 2011, and an additional RM6.4 billion for 2012, of which RM 11.86 billion has been allocated for National Key Economic Area (NKEA) projects over the two-year period of 2011-2012 under a development budget.

The MP further alleged that a RM729.4 million operating budget was allocated for 2011 “which has mostly been channelled to international consulting firms”, referring to the prestigious global consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting that were involved in helping Pemandu formulate the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) — a raft of projects aimed at creating an additional RM1.7 trillion in gross national income.

The projects are expected to be largely funded by private investors and government-linked corporations although the government has committed to put up eight per cent of the projected RM1.4 trillion cost in its role as a catalyst.

Jala dismissed the KIJa jibe saying: “To be clear, there is no such ministry.”

He said that the NKEA development budget amounted to RM5.5 billion in 2011 and RM6.4 billion in 2012.

Jala also defended having the RM12 billion ETP budget being parked under the PMO saying that it was to ensure effective management and control of expenditure.

He agreed, however, that “effective management and control of the budget is critical”.