A motion to do away with the RM85.5 million allocated to the controversial Special Affairs Department (Jasa) in Budget 2021 will be tabled by five members of parliament today.

Lembah Pantai MP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (PKR) communications director, Fahmi Fadzil told BFM - The Breakfast Grille today that such a large sum could “build three schools, two public health clinics or even be given to the country’s Department of Information”.

“Of course many of us were taken by surprise not only by the quantum but also on the need to have Jasa because there are other machineries within the government that can do what they do.”

“The establishment of Jasa only means more duplication. Hence why I, alongside four other MPs, have sent the motion to fully cut JASA out,” said Fahmi.

In total, Fahmi said there are 5 motions to totally remove Jasa’s allocations that involve the Lembah Pantai MP himself alongside Petaling Jaya, Kuantan, Jerlun and Tuaran MPs.

Additionally, there is one motion to reduce Jasa by RM45 million, brought by the Communications & Multimedia Minister.

Fahmi also shot down the Communications and Multimedia’s statement that Jasa was needed as an effective communications tool to combat Covid-19 misinformation and fake news.

“All these functions were already capably performed by other government agencies including the Information Department; state news outlets such as RTM, Bernama, and BernamaTV; the ministry’s own Strategic Communications Department; and the respective communications units at each ministry,” he added.

Umno Information Chief Shahril Hamdan who was also a guest at The Breakfast Grille thinks that even if Jasa were to be disbanded, the debate on the body, its function should be continued and not forgone.

“I agree that Jasa, or whatever communication agency, should be apolitical and non-partisan. Undeniably, it is a role that can be played by the Information Department,” he said.

Shahril added that the rationale for Jasa’s reinstatement were so the staff that were let go in 2018 when Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over, is given back their jobs to which Fahmi agrees to.

“I know my colleagues in UMNO are asking for the staff that were let go by PH to have their jobs reinstated, but regrettably, I don’t see any commitment from the current minister to make sure of it happening,” Fahmi responded.

The department was established back in 1959 as the Badan Hal Ehwal Khas (BHEK) and has gone through several transformations throughout the years. Then in 1960, BHEK was upgraded to the Cawangan Hal Ehwal Khas (CHEK) and later to the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Khas (JHEK) in 2000, before being rebranded to JASA in 2004. It was disbanded when PH came into power in 2018.

In the past, the department under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia had been accused of propaganda work for Barisan Nasional. Hence its revival and allocation in the country’s proposed budget for 2021 were among the hotly debated issues.

Two allocations have been proposed under Budget 2021 for JASA -- RM4 million for strategic communications, and an additional RM81.5 million to promote the government’s new policies.

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