Kuala lumpur: A total of 14 ministries have been identified as having failed to meet their targets in implementing physical development projects allocated last year, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar. He stated that the expenditure on development projects by these ministries stood at 87.91 per cent, which is below the national average and requires serious attention.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Shamsul Azri announced that he would be summoning the Secretaries-General (KSU) of these 14 ministries, indicating that their performance assessments might be impacted. He emphasized the slow pace in executing people-oriented projects such as road repairs and the construction of schools, clinics, and hospitals, attributing this sluggishness to the ministries' low achievement rate of 87 per cent. Shamsul Azri expressed concern that unutilized allocations result in losses and stressed that these funds should be redirected to other priority needs.

In his earlier address, Shamsul Azri shared that as of December 22, a total of 9,578 development projects had been implemented across the nation, involving an allocation of RM83.06 billion. The actual expenditure amounted to RM81.67 billion, reflecting a national average expenditure performance of 98.33 per cent for development projects.

The Chief Secretary also highlighted the Demerit Performance Evaluation System (DEEP), which was previously introduced to assess the performance of civil servants. Under this system, demerits are imposed on those who fail to achieve set objectives, reinforcing the need for accountability and efficiency in project implementation.