Government improves grants for states, RM5 billion under MARRIS funds

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the improvement of the allocation and grants for the state governments was decided during the National Finance Council meeting which he chaired today and attended by the Menteri Besar and representatives of Chief Ministers from all states.

He said the relaxation in the use of the allocation under the MARRIS funds was mainly to finance all maintenance, repair, replacement and modification of roads, bridges, drains, sewers and slopes along state roads which were damaged by floods, including in local authority areas.

"The federal government is always committed to ensuring that its relationship with the state governments is always at the best level possible.

"This aspiration is manifested through the increased in allocations channelled in various forms of grants to the state governments every year," he said in a statement here today.

The Prime Minister said the government also agreed to review the MARRIS funds and was ready to amend the relevant guidelines and legislation to ensure that the allocations could be fully utilised by the state governments by expanding the scopes of MARRIS funds to include road maintenance under the Agricultural Development Authority.

Apart from that, he said the Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) allocation would also be increased from RM70 million to RM100 million as a specific incentive to the states that gazetted new areas for protection.

"The incentive is to increase preservation efforts and conservation of terrestrial and marine biodiversity areas," he said.

To further strengthen the momentum of the Malaysian Family's economic recovery, Ismail Sabri said a contribution of RM330 million was made to the State Reserve Fund to finance the Economic, Infrastructure and Welfare Development-Based Grants (TAHAP).

He said a committee chaired by the Treasury secretary-general will be set up to review the calculation formula, criteria and distribution method for TAHAP.

"This proves the federal government's commitment to giving the opportunity to the state governments to implement development projects according to their priorities and needs," he said.

Ismail Sabri also expressed hope that the state governments would make full use of all the grants, especially in ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of the Malaysian Family.