The economic stimulus initiative meant to help Bumiputera contractors during the Covid-19 pandemic has been under the spotlight following the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision’s (MACC) probe into it.
Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin is among those facing corruption charges linked to the programme which was rolled out in 2020 when he led the country.
In a statement, Terengganu PH chief Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah said that while the Jana Wibawa programme was a timely measure to help Bumiputera contractors who were “crippled and bankrupted” during the pandemic, it had failed to meet its objective.
The former deputy housing and local government minister said as an architect who had worked with troubled Bumiputera contractors, he knew many of them had hoped that the Jana Wibawa programme would be their “saviour”.
However, he said those who managed Jana Wibawa had “betrayed Bumiputeras for their own greedy interests, forcing many Malays to go bankrupt, see their businesses close, or get fired”.
“Unfortunately, when Jana Wibawa was planned, Parliament was closed and a state of emergency was declared – so there were no debates that could be held in Parliament as a means of check and balance,” he said.
“(There were those hiding) behind the mask of ‘helping Bumiputeras’, but it’s the Bumiputeras who were betrayed by their own leaders.
“Until when will we see ‘Bumiputera, Malay and Islam’ being used for the benefit of certain individuals or groups?
“The Malays need to realise (they are being) manipulated and deceived by their own leaders under the guise of defending race and religion.”
Raja Kamarul said some of the Bumiputera contractors who struggled financially during the pandemic were forced to sell their businesses, jewellery and their family’s property to stay afloat.
He added that as a result, their children missed the opportunity to further their studies and build a career that would allow them to take care of their parents.
On Monday, deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan told the Dewan Rakyat that 67 projects were awarded to Bumiputera contractors under the Jana Wibawa programme.
These projects, awarded when Perikatan Nasional was in power, were worth a total of RM7.2 billion, he said.
In February, deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that RM5.7 billion worth of Jana Wibawa projects had been temporarily halted pending a review to determine if they followed Treasury procedures.