SOME ministries have been spending money they don't have, or not spending money they have.

Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said four ministries spent about RM34 million on eight projects which were not allocated for.

The Education Ministry alone spent RM32 million on three projects. The other ministries were Rural and Regional Development, Works, and Health.

There are 13 ministries/departments which overspent by RM450 million on 29 projects.

The Ministry of Defence took the crown by spending more than RM300 million on two projects. The second spot went to the Higher Education Ministry which overspent by RM85 million for two projects.
Then there's the case of 17 ministries/departments who applied for more than RM460 million for 40 projects but didn't spend a single sen.

The biggest "non-spender" was the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry, which applied for over RM130 million for two projects.

Less than half of the allocations approved for last year for 118 projects involving 25 ministries/departments were spent.

There were also 15 ministries/departments who received reallocations amounting more than RM60 million for 18 projects but did not spend a single sen.

The actual expenditure was also less than the original allocation that was approved.

The Internal Security Ministry received an original allocation of RM423 million and an additional allocation of RM9 million for two projects. Its final spending bill was RM334 million.

A staggering RM1.11 billion was spent by 12 ministries/ departments for 46 projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. But none of the projects had any estimates.

Of this amount, RM1.02 billion involved four ministries, led by the Health Ministry which spent more than RM480 million.

The 2007 Treasury Circular and General Circular said expenditure for projects cannot exceed the estimated or ceiling price of the project except with the approval from the Treasury and the Economic Planning Unit.

Despite the warning, 63 projects carried out by 17 ministries/departments exceeded the estimates under 9MP by more than RM970 million.

In addition to that, 13 projects by nine ministries/departments were carried out exceeding the ceiling price estimate by more than RM440 million, led by the Treasury Department itself.

"Development expenditure which do not not comply with the rules can be avoided if the central agency constantly monitors the money spent on projects so it doesn't exceed the estimates."