Background
There is lack of transparency in where funding is allocated and spent, with reports of millions allocated contrasting with destitute and desperate victims still in tents months after the disaster. To research and expose this gap between Federal Government budget allocations and what is happening on the ground we plan to do a social audit on the Federal Government spending for flood recovery that has been allocated. The flood funds will be broken down in details based on where the funds channelled to and resources that have been spent on. Once the allocations of this funds are published publicly by using Open Spending web application, citizens will monitor the Federal Government based on the mentioned details and then will comment further if the action has been taken.
Objective
There have been recorded histories from 1971 to 2014 shown floods in Malaysia are regular natural disasters that happens every year and most commonly during monsoon season. On December 2014, East Coast Malaysia Peninsular were hit by the worst flash flood. Many speculative reports highlights the flash flood was not only caused by the monsoon, but also was caused by the excessive illegal loggings in the East Coast. Numerous news articles have been reported that the Federal Government has allocated RM 893 million under the 2015 Budget for flood mitigation projects in addition to the initial aids channeled to the affected families and business communities. However, based on this 2015 Budget that has been published publicly in the Ministry of Finance website, there are no informations related to flood relief, rebuilding and mitigation mentioned in it about the allocated money for flood mitigation projects. Moreover, in the Supply Bill 2015 and in the Economy Report 2014/2015 that are accessible from the official portal of Ministry of Finance Malaysia fails to show comprehensively of the breakdown of expenditures from the Federal Government to targeted institutions.
Following are the objectives for this project:
- To investigate allocated funds provided by the Federal Government and document actual figures.
- To provide detailed report on how the allocated funds for flood relief have been used to the affected places.
- To provide awareness to the citizens over the Federal Government's accountability based on the funds that have been provided to the affected places.
The Impact
In the past, there were no reported social audit implemented nor initiated officially and publicly by the Malaysian government and by Malaysian civil societies organisations on flood relief and rebuilding communities in affected places. As a stepping stone, Sinar Project will lead the first social audit focusing at micro-level which is the flood relief and rebuilding communities and your contribution will be used to kickstart this project. Social audit creates impact to government activities on social-well being of citizens, access the social costs and measure social benefits.
Following are the benefits of social audit:
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Enhance accountability: Due to the strong emphasis on openness and accountability for government departments, the information disclosed needs to be fair and accurate. Social audit uses external verification to validate that it is complete and inclusive. The external verification can add credibility to the department's efforts. Information allocated from the audit can provide crucial knowledge about institutions ethical performance and how citizens perceive the services offered by the government. The social angle in the delivery of services, either real or perceived, can be a major factor adding or reducing the reputation of the department and its functionaries.
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Alert policymakers and stakeholders: Social audit is a useful tool help citizens understands and anticipates stakeholders concerns. It also provides essential information about the interests, perspectives and expectations of stakeholders facilitating the interdependency that exists between the government and the community. Who are these stakeholders? Stakeholders include employees, clients, volunteers, funders, contractors, suppliers and the general public affected by the institution. Stakeholders are those persons or organisations who have interest in or who have invested resources in the institution.
Steps that will be executed for this social audit:
- Document videos, recorded interviews and photos of status rebuilding homes for flood victims. Photos compiled from on ground reporting will be used as posters as part of the media outreach initiative.
- Explore local partners to assist in the social audit survey development and reporting progress. This will be used to validate flood funds allocated in the affected areas.
- Document interviews with local institutions such as local councils, elected representatives and community-based organisations.
Issues That Will Be Covered
- Food
- Health
- Education
- Infrastructure development
- Local businesses
- Poverty in the community
Who Manages This Project?
This project will lead by
Hazwany Jamaluddin, Sinar Project's current programme officer and resident statistician.
How Your Money Will Be Spent?
- Accommodation, transportation and travel to Dabong, Manik Urai, Kuala Krai and Gua Musang.
- Duration to collect data are 60 days if the estimated fund is met. If the estimated fund is not met, then duration will be less.
- Researcher's time and resources to conduct research, provides updates and detailed final report.
- Video production and editing.
Risks & Challenges
Data collections will be affected based on location and time. Due to limited personnel to collect data on the ground, there is a high probability that the quality of data will not be in excellent quality and it will not provide a full picture of the affected region.
Other Ways You Can Help
We welcome you to show your support by spreading the word about this campaign to your friends and family. If you'd like to donate materials please contact us at donations@sinarproject.org.
Thank you for you time and consideration!