The Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister said out of 1,211 projects in the state, 514 projects are in the pre-implementation stage, adding that these projects take up about RM2 billion of Sabah’s total development funds allocated under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

“Besides that, a total of 76 projects are classified as delayed and sick, which is a factor behind Sabah’s low expenditure (of development funds),” he said in a parliamentary written reply.

Armizan was responding to a question by Vivian Wong (PH-Sandakan) on why Sabah had not fully utilised the development funds meant for it.

Last month, deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan said a total of 1,144 projects across various ministries with a total allocation of RM61.1 billion had been implemented in Sabah this year.

He said the number of projects was the highest compared with other states and there had been a significant increase from last year, which saw 1,048 projects with a budget of RM48.1 billion being implemented.

Following his announcement, chief minister Hajiji Noor said Sabah had spent more than RM2.39 billion for development projects under the second rolling plan of the 12MP, as of Sept 4.

Hajiji also asked all ministries and agencies to take follow-up action based on the performance report from the state’s development action council meeting, to ensure that all planned development projects are implemented as scheduled.