Wasteful overruns – Lim Sue Goan

Wasteful overruns – Lim Sue Goan

October 06, 2013

The 2012 Auditor General’s report once again revealed a wide array of incredible administrative malpractices and irregularities, highlighting the fact that the government’s transformation programme is at best stagnant while painting a bleak picture of the country’s future.

Although Najib’s transformation programme has intended to improve government efficiency, incorruption and transparency, the annual AG reports have pointed otherwise. This serves to illustrate the fact that the transformation programme not only has failed to meet the targets but has slid backward instead.

Two years ago, the 2010 AG’s report revealed that the marine park department spent RM56,350 on a night vision marine binoculars worth only RM1,940. Two years since the transformation programme was initiated, RTM spent RM44,010 last year to acquire three units of A4 scanners worth RM200 each, almost 73 times higher than the market rate.

Malpractice aggravated in two years’ time. As if that is not enough, the PDRM was also reported to have lost some of its guns and handcuffs. We are wondering which way the transformation programme has actually led us to.

I personally feel that the aggravated wastage and irregularities could be attributed to the government’s failure to incorporate sound management, discipline, thriftiness and sense of crisis into its transformation programme. With oil revenues getting thinner by the year, we cannot afford to keep draining our public funds this way.

Sound management is of utmost importance to a government or organisation. Without highly efficient management, the government will not only fail to meet its goals, but will also deviate from the right track.

It is essential for the country to have proper management A country without natural resources can still become a high-income country if it is well managed, such as Singapore.

Of course, distinctive reward and punishment system must also be put in place. Unfortunately, there are only rewards in our public sector, no punishments of any sort.

March 8, 2012, the government abolished the exit policy under the pressure from civil servants. The policy was meant to boost the job efficiency of the country’s public servants, and underperforming, indisciplined and problematic workers would be laid off.

However, after the policy was implemented, the government found it difficult to dismiss erring public servants. All it could do was to demote or transfer the said workers. As a result, black sheep continued to exist in our public services and continued to erode government resources.

As a matter of fact, the irregularities exposed in the AG’s reports are but the tip of the iceberg. There are still countless instances of unreported extravagance and wastage at every level of government administration, including RM20,566,400 to hire international consultancy firm to map out the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, and RM2.88 million by the PM’s Office for various Hari Raya open house parties.

While we have plenty of professionals in our education ministry, why did the government commission non-education specialists to map out the Blueprint? It has gradually become a norm for the government to outsource or hire consultancy firms to handle government affairs, resulting in hefty government expenditure overruns.

Since the government has been so generous in handing out contracts, it is natural that lower-ranking officers have learned to be wasteful as well.

Without frugal spending, fiscal deficits will soar. Last month, the finance ministry sought the Parliament to approve additional RM15.014 billion in administrative expenses, resulting in a higher budgetary deficit at 4.6% of GDP, possibly bringing the government debts to the 55% ceiling by year-end.

The government has been seeking supplementary budgetary allocations year after year, RM10.2 billion last year and RM13.18 billion in 2011. Wastage and malpractices have been key factors for the overruns. The Kota Kinabalu International Airport project, for instance, has entailed RM1.4 billion in cost overruns.

If this trend is allowed to go on, our government debts will only get higher and higher, sending the government to the brink of bankruptcy.

The government recently hiked the fuel prices by 20 sen per litre. While this will help the government save RM1.1 billion in subsidies, the money saved is far from enough to plug the budgetary hole caused by the irregularities.

Many public servants have been kept in the dark over the actual critical conditions of the country’s fiscal health, and they severely lack the sense of crisis in managing public property as well.

Auditor General Ambrin Buang offered 653 proposals in the 2012 AG’s report to help the government and GLCs address their administrative weaknesses. The AG had in previous years made a host of suggestions and ministers issued their warnings, but nothing much has since changed. – Sin Chew Daily, October 6, 2013.

Wasteful overruns – Lim Sue Goan