KUALA LUMPUR: It is time the public focused on the positive side of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to counter the bad publicity against the government investment arm over the past few weeks, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament lobby here Thursday, Ahmad said 1MDB has done a lot of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) that have benefited the people since its inception in 2009.
“A total of RM382.3mil in allocations have been channelled for these CSR projects, making 1MDB the biggest contributor among state-owned companies … so why only focus on the bad side?” he said.
The projects included the building of 30,000 houses for Orang Asli under a programme called Jalinan Murni which cost RM14.5mil.
He pointed out that 1MDB had also spent a total of RM28.2mil on Haj pilgrimage programmes from 2011 until now, RM7.37mil on Klinik Bergerak 1Malaysia in 2010, and RM76mil on TR1MA (Bantuan Teksi Rakyat 1Malaysia), where taxi drivers were given tyre subsidy.
“1MDB has done a lot of people-centric projects. They get the funds from the profits they gained from 2010 to 2013.
“In 2010, 1MDB recorded a profit of RM424mil, RM544mil in 2011 and RM44mil in 2012. In 2013, their profit was RM778mil and we only recorded losses of RM665mil this year,” he said, adding that the losses have already been “explained”.
1MDB has come under fire lately from former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Opposition lawmakers over its management of funds and for incurring huge debts reported to be amounting RM38bil.
