PETALING JAYA: The RM40mil channelled to the TARCian Alumni Association (TAA) is neither from Budget 2019, nor was it from the Education or Finance Ministries, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

He said there was no mention of any nominal allocation by the Education Ministry, not in the form of operating expenditure for Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) when the Budget was announced.

“In fact, the RM40mil was not in Budget 2019.

“Is such withdrawal of taxpayers’ money not in accordance with the protocol or the standard operating procedure (SOP)?

“Isn’t this fund channelled just to please a certain individual or party?” said the MCA president in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Dec 17).

Dr Wee said the government had been channelling both the operating and development expenditures to TAR UC in the last 50 years through the Education Ministry.

“The RM5.5mil development fund that was announced under Budget 2019 and has been transferred to the account of TAR UC in May and July was also under the ministry.

“Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s decision to channel ‘operating expenditure’ to TAA has set a new precedent - making the channelling of funds to an institution under the purview of two ministries.

“With the Education Ministry responsible for the development expenditure and Finance Ministry in charge of operating expenditure, this is something that had never happened before,” he said.

Dr Wee questioned if such practice showed that the Finance Ministry had overstepped its authority over the Education Ministry.

“Is the Education Minister not saying anything about this?” he added.

Dr Wee, who is Ayer Hitam MP, also questioned if the RM40mil given to TAA will solely be used to benefit TAR UC students.

Attaching an image of TAA’s registration details with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) in his Facebook, Dr Wee said the nature of business for the entity is described as "to receive, manage and administer funds for educational and other educational related funding purposes".

"How can Lim Guan Eng guarantee that the allocation will benefit TAR UC students?” he said.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/12/17/dr-wee-rm40mil-channelled-to-taa-not-from-budget-2019-education-or-finance-ministries