Chief secretary Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said expenditure on development projects by the ministries concerned stood at 87.91%, below the national average, and warranted serious attention.

“I will call in the secretaries-general of these 14 ministries, and this will have implications for their performance assessments.

“People-oriented projects such as road repairs, as well as the construction of schools, clinics and hospitals, are being implemented, but at a slow pace, which explains why the achievement rate is only 87%.

“When allocations are provided but not fully utilised, it results in losses. These funds should have been used for other priority needs,” he told reporters after delivering his New Year’s message today.

In his address, Shamsul said that as of Dec 22, a total of 9,578 development projects had been implemented nationwide involving an allocation of RM83.06 billion, with actual expenditure amounting to RM81.67 billion.

This translates into a national average expenditure performance of 98.33% for development projects.

The demerit performance evaluation system was previously introduced to assess the performance of civil servants, with demerits imposed on those who fail to achieve the set objectives.