PUTRAJAYA – Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says he will look over all of the approved projects to make sure there are no leaks now that the national debt has gone over RM1 trillion.

“I’m looking at the files, which is why we’re asking for some projects to be delayed, re-examined, or cancelled. “This is not a jab at any political figure,” he said today at a meeting with Muslim preachers at his official residence.

Anwar said last week that he had asked for a review of contracts worth RM7 billion that were approved under the RM15 billion flood mitigation project but were made through direct negotiations instead of a tender process.

He said he’d worked hard to check the files. “Some projects we put off, rechecked, or cancelled,” he said. “If we want to spend (money), we need to check. This is a matter of good governance.”

He said the country should be run according to the right rules.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said he wanted to look at the flood prevention projects again to make sure there were no problems. He said that if there were problems, the public, especially the poor, would be hurt.

“Most of the poor are Malays, so we have to be careful when spending public money.

“Managing the country requires rules and order. Look at the sudden approval of projects to prevent flooding. There are some unanswered questions, so I think they should be put on hold and looked at again.

“I will go to the finance ministry tomorrow to look into the matter,” he said.

Earlier, Anwar fired his first shot against corruption by telling Cabinet members that anyone caught taking bribes or abusing their power will be fired immediately.

Anwar said that he would not give in on this kind of culture in the unity government that he leads.