JUNE 18 — As usual, the 2014 Auditor-General’s Report Series II revealed a great number of drawbacks, including assets valued at RM12.92 million at University of Malaya were reported unidentified; the Lembaga Tabung Amanah Warisan Negeri Terengganu had spent RM27 million to purchase a resort for its medical tourism centre project, which was later shelved, leaving the resort vacant for several years; and among 134of the total 357 units of dormitory prepared by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) were reported to have fully damaged and uninhabitable.
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed was surprised by the huge number of drawbacks. After all, it is hardly believable that government agencies actually kept repeating so many low-level errors.
Take the medical tourism project in Terengganu for instance, there should be a complete and comprehensive plan before the implementation since it is a big project involving a huge amount of money, but the project was eventually shelved due to a reason as simple as “there is no expert to manage the investment”. How could the authorities fail to consider the “expert” issue before the project was put into implementation?
Let’s take a look at the financial dilemma of Kelantan Golden Trade Sdn Bhd, which is an agency responsible for the production and sales of Islamic gold and silver coins under the Perbadanan Menteri Besar Kelantan (PMBK). The company still ordered silver coins despite in a state of very slow sales and high inventories. Such a practice had completely violated the business sense but the company did not seem to be aware of it.
There are many other astonishing drawbacks in the A-G Report but more importantly, the relevant departments must take follow up actions, instead of leaving them just like that after they are massively reported by the media and criticised by the public. Last year, the Prime Minister’s Department had made arrangement for a face-to-face session among government departments’ secretary-generals or senior officers and the media to answer questions about the 2013 Auditor-General’s Report Series II.
Such an arrangement can actually help in clarifying the problems and thus, should be continued.
Meanwhile, severe punishments must be imposed on government agencies and officers involving in malpractices or duty dereliction.
It is understood that a total of 339 officers have been ferret out based on the 2012 and 2013 A-G reports and disciplinary actions were taken.
However, drawbacks are still emerging and officials have continued erring, showing that the disciplinary actions have failed to achieve the expected vigilant effect.
It might be due to inadequate penalties and thus, the government should take tougher actions against officers involving in malpractices.
If the government still does not learn from its mistakes, strengthen internal controls and implement a strict accountability system, we can expect similar drawbacks in the following A-G annual reports.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
