Parliament to debate national audit thrice yearly

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — The Auditor-General’s (A-G) Report will be tabled at every Parliament sitting three times a year, instead of annually, starting this year, a minister said today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim also told Parliament here today that the first and the second series of the A-G Report 2012 have already been tabled in the Parliament sitting in October, and that the third series will be released soon in the current sitting.

“We’ll review this from time to time, whether it’s better to table it three times a year or once a year,” said Shahidan.

The A-G 2012 report, released last month, revealed wasteful spending and inefficient administration across several government agencies.

Among the details in the report concerned loss of police equipment worth RM1.33 million — including guns and handcuffs — in the past three years, the Health Ministry’s RM320,000 dubious spending on social media campaigns, and the Education Ministry’s failure to manage private security contractors at schools that cost RM2 billion.

Shahidan also said today that civil servants would only be hauled to the Putrajaya Inquisition - which is a committee chaired by the prime minister to clear old cases found in previous Auditor-General’s reports - if no action has been taken against them for mismanaging public funds.

“If there is a case where they can be charged, the MACC will take action,” said Shahidan today, referring to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“If not, disciplinary action will be taken,” he added.

Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said last month that the findings of the latest A-G Report did not require the Putrajaya Inquisition to convene yet.

Shahidan said that starting next year, each series of the A-G Report will be released at each of the three parliamentary sittings.

“There was elections this year and we sat in Parliament in June. That’s why they gave both reports at the same time (in October),” he said, referring to the first and second series of the national auditor’s report.