KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) urged Putrajaya in its alternative Budget 2014 today to set up taskforces that will hold ministers and their secretaries-general (KSUs) accountable for the wastages revealed annually in the Auditor-General’s report.

The opposition pact said the Chief Secretary to the Government (KSN) should order the various KSUs at the federal level in annual meetings to head taskforces at the ministry level to review gaps in the procurement system.

“Guidelines or governance documents that govern the workings and processes for each ministry must be reviewed to include the lowest level of authority to ensure that gaps are effectively addressed,” said PR.

“The results are then measured against the targets set earlier. These results must then be presented in Parliament by the respective ministers who are held accountable for the targets, with the KSU responsible. The results will then be disclosed to the public for scrutiny,” it added.

Among others, the A-G’s 2012 Report revealed that RM1.3 million worth of police equipment went missing in the past three years, including 156 handcuff sets, 44 firearms and 29 vehicles.

The report also found that the Department of Broadcasting had purchased 20 wall clocks at RM3,810 each, 38 times more than the estimated RM100 each, and three A4 size scanners at RM14,670 a unit, more than 70 times the estimated price of RM200 each.

The Customs Department, on the other hand, had to destroy RM600,000 worth of shoes it had purchased because they did not suit its officers.

There were also “significant weaknesses” in the standard of guards for school security systems, although the Education Ministry spent about RM2 billion on security services from 2010 to 2012.

The controversial Bakun Dam project, in turn, had racked up RM1.3 million in additional costs, while the Youth and Sports Ministry spent over RM3 million for the National Youth Day celebrations, which included a RM1.6 million bill to bring in K-Pop groups from South Korea.

PR said in its alternative budget that the scope of the taskforce included identifying and closing the gaps in the procurement system, in terms of reducing redundant processes and increasing efficiency.

“Government departments should review the levels of authorities, and re-define the level of empowerment and responsibilities at the various authority levels,” said PR.

“Although Pakatan Rakyat may have the capacity to implement a similar mechanism at the state level, the onus is on the federal government to lead by example, given the magnitude, prevalence and frequency of wastages and leakages at the federal level,” added the opposition pact.

PR also said it would implement a Liquidated Ascertained Damages (LAD) system to ensure that Putrajaya will be compensated by companies that fail to complete government projects.

“Those found to be low-performing will be fined an appropriate amount and blacklisted from partaking in future projects,” said PR.

“Pakatan Rakyat will create a Qualitative Assessment system that assesses projects, not only from a quantitative, but also qualitative aspect, which will be incorporated into the annual Auditor-General’s Report.

“This gives a clearer and more comprehensive picture to the rakyat (people) on not just how many kilometres of road have been completed, but also the quality of said road,” it added.