PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said he was given the mandate to lead in a situation where the country's debt had reached more than RM1 trillion.
He said the matter on the country's debt is not 'fitnah' (allegation), and he has conducted thorough checks on agencies to find leakages.
"I worked hard to scrutinise all the files, that's why some projects were delayed, re-examined, or cancelled.
"I have no intention to insult any political figure, hence I didn't mention names.
"But I mentioned the flood mitigation projects because it causing difficulties to the people, where the victims are mostly the poor, with the majority of them Malays," he said in his speech during a gathering with ulama and asatizah (religious figures and religious authority) held at Seri Perdana Complex.
Also present was Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar.
Anwar said it was important to be careful in expenditure as this is a matter of governance.
"In managing a country, we must follow the right order and rules.
"Hence, when the flood mitigation projects were approved spontaneously, with questionable companies, and some questions not answered, I asked for a postponement.
"Tomorrow, I will go to the Finance Ministry to study this. This matter is true. It was approved but not yet implemented because of the election," he said.