Sabah and Sarawak earmarked for RM11 billion in rural road funding
Tengku Zafrul says the 2023–2027 allocation compares with RM3.7 billion spent over the preceding five years, rejecting claims that the states were neglected.
Funding earmarked for rural roads in Sabah and Sarawak is set to total RM11 billion over 2023–2027, Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said on November 1. That compares with expenditure of RM3.7 billion during 2018–2022, with the newer figure including allocations for 2026 and 2027.
Writing on social media, Tengku Zafrul said the two states accounted for about half of Malaysia’s annual rural road spending. Expenditure there has totalled RM4.6 billion since 2023, he said, including RM1.41 billion in 2026 — a decade-high annual amount.
Tengku Zafrul, who chairs the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and serves as a senior political adviser to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, rejected suggestions that either state had been neglected.
Explaining delays to new contracts, he said spending on rural roads had overshot the amounts initially authorised by Parliament in every year since 2022. This had left growing contractual obligations and unpaid bills, while the Finance Ministry needed to balance funding across ministries.
According to Tengku Zafrul, Anwar approved an extra RM500 million for expenditure in 2026 in his role as Finance Minister. Savings from other ministries’ development budgets would cover overdue contractor payments.
He said postponing new contracts was meant to limit further payment arrears, rather than end projects already under way. He added that the Finance Ministry had given no instruction to cancel existing projects.
Tengku Zafrul also cited Budget 2027 provisions of RM2.27 billion for rural roads and RM34.9 billion for Sabah and Sarawak, describing the latter as the largest allocation among the states.
