KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — The secretary-general (KSU) or head of service (KP) as the officer in charge at a ministry, government department or agency has been reminded to give priority to attending meetings of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when called as a witness for the proceedings.
PAC chairman Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad said from her experience of chairing PAC meetings since being appointed to the post on April 11, there were KSU or KP who failed to attend although they had been served with a notice of attendance at least 10 days in advance, as stipulated under Standing Order 9 of the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat.
“Instead, they only sent representatives to attend the Parliamentary PAC meetings, and even more disappointing was when the KSU or KP did not reply to the letter to officially inform (PAC) of their non-availability,” she said in a statement today.
Noraini said this attitude clearly showed that they did not respect the institution of Parliament as the highest legislative body in the country.
She said the PAC appreciated the fact that KSU or KP had a busy work schedule and heavy responsibility and was open to any request for alternative dates if they were not available on the date fixed earlier. — Bernama
