KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — Datuk Seri Idris Jala has defended the body set up to deliver Malaysia’s ambitious economic transformation programme, saying that it is doing its best to fulfil its task by the target date in six years.

Idris, who leads the Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) as its CEO, said the unit does not control the finances of government, duplicate roles of any other agencies, massage or fiddle with Malaysia’s economic statistics.

“Pemandu is far from perfect but we have to start somewhere. Even as we fix our gaps, we do it on the run. We do not have the luxury of time to pause midstream to cross all the t’s and dot the i’s.

“With only six years ahead, we can only sprint forward,” Idris wrote in his blog, with a post titled “Going Beyond Pretty Pictures”.

Pemandu started operations on September 16, 2009 to spearhead the implementation of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

It was also tasked with establishing and implementing key performance indicators (KPI) for the various federal ministries, and to facilitate entry point projects (EPP) and business opportunities that have been identified as key drivers towards Malaysia’s goal of becoming a high-income nation by 2020.

According Idris, all operating expenditure for the ministries are managed by the Ministry of Finance, while development expenditure is managed by the Economic Planning Unit.

Pemandu’s role does not overlap those played by other agencies and nobody in Putrajaya “has ever complained” about alleged duplication, he said.

“The Prime Minister chairs Pemandu’s Board of Trustees whose members also include the Chief Secretary and Secretary-General of Treasury. The Deputy Prime Minister chairs Delivery Task Force meetings on the GTP, attended by Ministers.

“All NKEA meetings are chaired by their lead Ministers, with their Secretary-Generals leading the charge, and Pemandu playing a supporting role. There are no duplications,” said the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, referring to the National Key Economic Areas.

Idris also explained that statistical figures used by Pemandu are supplied by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Department of Statistics, as they are the owners of sectoral and national economic data.

“We access these numbers just like any other organisation. These agencies produce economic data in line with internationally accredited standards,” the minister insisted.

Faced with criticisms over its resources, Idris said that Pemandu is just a “small team” of less than 100 executives working alongside 23 ministries and at least 169 companies, overseeing programmes across 12 sectors, seven reporting areas and six policy initiatives.

“I keep our internal resource low to maintain a flat, flexible and nimble organisation. Individuals double-even triple-hat to deliver stretched targets,” said Idris.

“I push my people and the attrition rate is high. Some leave because the workload is an overload, others because they get poached by organisations looking for high-performers.”

In October, Umno’s Kulim Bandar Baru MP Datuk Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir said Pemandu has only created rifts between the various ministries and government departments, who feel their roles and responsibilities had been hijacked by the agency.

In the same day, DAP’s Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming also pointed out the high salaries of contract staff in the federal government as an example of profligacy, citing that a Pemandu director can command RM49,000.

Ong had then demanded Idris to reveal the pay structure for  directors within the unit as the government faces increasing criticism over ballooning costs in running the civil service.