Govt Procurement Draft Bill To Be Tabled In Parliament Next Year

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- The government will draft the Government Procurement Bill (GP Bill) in taking specific steps to increase transparency in the government procurement process, according to the Ministry of Finance.

According to the ministry, the GP Bill was drafted with the objective of creating a form of legislation to regulate the government procurement process, detailing the powers of stakeholders under the Act and create a check and balance mechanism to ensure good governance and meet international best practices.

"The government also takes into account the views and suggestions of all parties to ensure that the GP Bill that is prepared meets the principles and governance of procurement," it said in a written reply on the parliament website today to a question by Rodiyah Sapiee (GPS-Batang Sadong) regarding the proposed enactment of the GP Bill and whether control includes mega projects and certain procurement information can be accessed by the public.

The Ministry of Finance also takes into account the complexity of drafting the GP Bill, hence several engagement sessions are currently and will be held with the state governments, local authorities, statutory bodies and other related agencies.

Based on the government's commitment to make the GP Bill an institutional reform, the Ministry of Finance plans to table the bill next year.

In other developments, the ministry said the amount of funding of the Ikhtiar Financing Scheme under Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia that has been used is RM2.03 billion, which is 78 per cent from January to September 2024.

The amount of funding has benefited 230,921 Sahabat Usahawan Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia.

Meanwhile, a total of RM497.2 million has been allocated for the People's Wellbeing Development Scheme.

"Of the specified amount, RM459.8 million or 92.47 per cent has been spent up to Oct 31, 2024 which benefits 59,054 beneficiaries.

As for the RM40 Electricity Bill Rebate Programme, a total of RM55 million has been approved under Budget 2024.

As of Oct 31, 2024, the total expenditure for the programme is up to RM22.78 million or equivalent to 41 per cent of the total allocation for 2024 which benefits a total of 64,764 households among the extreme poor.

The ministry was replying to a question from Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PN-Rantau Panjang) about the percentage of allocations that have been spent on the Ikhtiar Funding Scheme, the People's Wellbeing Development Scheme and the Electricity Bill Rebate Programme for the extreme poor.

-- BERNAMA