DAP insists bi-partisan panel only way to end abuses detailed in A-G’s Report: KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 – The DAP today urged Putrajaya to reach across the political aisle to end the annual financial wastage detailed in the Auditor-General’s Report, saying Pakatan Rakyat’s proposed bi-partisan committee was necessary to implement the far-reaching reforms needed to curb future abuses. Secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also described Chief Secretary Tan Sri Ali Hamsa’s announcement yesterday of two special committees to study and scrutinise the A-G’s Report as a “laughable attempt” to let the issue die down by “studying it to death”. “Instead, BN (Barisan Nasional) should accept PR’s sincere offer to set up a three-person committee comprising of the deputy prime minister as chair, the parliamentary opposition leader and the auditor-general to implement structural reforms to stop such abuses of power and to punish wrong-doers,” he said in a statement today. “Only a high-powered committee can put fear into the hearts of those who betray the public trust given to those acting as a custodian of public funds. Otherwise we can expect another repeat of the AG 2013 Report, similar as previous reports except for changing the date.” On Tuesday, the Auditor-General’s Report for 2012 was released to the usual teeth-gnashing from the public that welcomes the annual highlights of the financial mismanagement and abuses by government that cost taxpayers billions of ringgit each year. Among the low points from the latest report were the RM2 billion that the Education Ministry spent on sub-par security for national schools, over RM600,000 of shoes disposed of by the Customs Department after they did not meet requirements, and the Health Ministry’s decision to commission two social media campaigns at a combined cost of RM320,000. The police were also discovered to have lost RM1.3 million in assets including guns and handcuffs, which the Inspector-General of Police later said might have fallen into the sea. PR lawmakers subsequently proposed the three-man committee as an “out of the box” approach to rein in the annual highlights of federal financial mismanagement and abuses. Today, the Penang chief minister pointed out that the critical need to address issues highlighted in the A-G’s Report, as such leakages has led to federal procurement costs to escalate to 25 per cent of the gross domestic product or more than double the 12 per cent spend by developed nations. He also said BN leaders needed to address the inadequate procurement planning and poor drafting of specifications, insufficient use of open competitive tendering, failure to disclose budget ceiling and the lack of monitoring and evaluation. Although this year’s edition did not serve up a national scandal to match that of the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) previously exposed, opposition critics said the excessive spending detailed in the annual report pointed to an institutional problem with the government. They noted that despite the number and severity of issues highlighted in the reports each year, few government personnel implicated are ever disciplined to the extent that the rules allow or even at all. dlvr.it/45FNBQ
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 04:02:07 +0000
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