The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) said economy minister Rafizi Ramli should ensure a full disclosure of the source of the funding as well as the criteria for approval to obtain funds.

“The minister should also ensure that the approvals and implementation are monitored and publicly disclosed for accountability,” it said in a statement today.

Last Thursday, Rafizi said the system will be operational by the third week of June. However, he said, the allocations would only be for small-scale projects, like tackling clogged drains in housing areas.

He said the ministry was planning to receive requests for direct funding from “anyone in Malaysia”.

While IDEAS commended the effort, it said more details were needed, including the total amount of funds allocated for the initiative.

At present, only elected representatives, district officers and local councils may send in requests for allocations to the government. These applications are managed by the economic planning unit, which falls under the Prime Minister’s Department.

Currently, it said, one the known allocations for small-scale projects was disbursed through MPs and assemblymen through the constituency development fund (CDF).

However, it said, the CDF has “historically been opaque” with the amounts per constituency and mechanism of distribution determined directly by the prime minister, and menteris besar and chief ministers at state level.

“The government of the day has complete discretion on the amounts allocated for CDFs, and as a result, the distribution disproportionately favours constituencies of government MPs,” it said.

IDEAS urged the government to reform the CDF to ensure equitable distribution of funds that take into account the needs of constituencies, regardless of which political party their MPs represent.