He hinted that some of the money would be redirected to other areas that needed additional allocations.

Yesterday, Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had guaranteed that the RM85 million allocation for JASA would be slashed and that the department would be rebranded as the Community Communications Department.

However, in confirming the slashing of funds for JASA this evening, Tengku Zafrul did not go into details, saying only that it would be discussed at the budget’s committee stage.

He said this in reply to Mukhriz Mahathir (Ind-Jerlun) who had asked about additional fund allocations being made but which were not in the initial budget document that was read on Nov 6.

“There seem to be additional allocations. So, where is the money coming from?” he asked.

Meanwhile, a heated argument arose in the Dewan Rakyat just before the budget was approved, as most opposition MPs were unhappy with the lack of consultation with them over the budget and some of the amendments made.

This included the i-Sinar initiative which now allows Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members to withdraw up to RM10,000.

Wong Chen (PH-Subang) asked how the EPF would raise funds for the withdrawal, as the total withdrawal could come up to RM70 billion.

“The EPF’s revenue was about RM20 billion. This means we have to raise RM50 billion for next year. Where is the money coming from?” he asked.

Wong said this would cause a major problem, adding that the budget should be realistic and not populist.

In response, Zafrul said that the EPF received RM80 billion a year.

Former health minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PH-Kuala Selangor) then voiced out on the budget allocation for the health sector being inadequate.

As more MPs tried to have a say, heated arguments erupted.

Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun then asked all MPs to follow the rules, to which an opposition MP told him to control the government MPs first.

Azhar then reminded MPs not to accuse him of the “wrong things”.

Meanwhile, Khalid Samad (PH-Shah Alam) was disappointed at not being allowed to pose a question to the finance minister.

“If the minister wants us to support the budget, he should allow us to ask questions,” Khalid said, adding that Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN-Baling) was allowed to ask questions but he was not allowed to do so.

He also lamented how opposition MPs were only consulted once on the budget.

“We were supposed to discuss the budget together for the sake of the country,” he said.

Some of the MPs then questioned the speaker for not allowing opposition MPs to ask questions despite extending the Dewan Rakyat sitting.

Azhar explained that the floor belonged to the finance minister and it was up to him to allow MPs to direct questions to him.