PUTRAJAYA – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today called on all department heads, directors-general and secretaries-general to minute all discussions regarding the auditor-general’s report before handing it over to the chief secretary to the government.
In his speech at the monthly assembly with staff of the Prime Minister’s Department here today, Anwar said the report needed to be re-examined to improve administrative governance, in addition to being able to identify and help reduce leakages in the country’s administration.
“I want the heads of departments to pay close attention not only to matters touching on the department but to look at the entire proposal to improve governance and I will suggest to (the chief secretary to the government) that all of this be minuted.
“First of all, to ensure that the wide framework of the auditor-general’s report and criticisms can be discussed, and secondly, matters that touch on the department. In such a way, the same problem will not recur,” he added.
He said that minuting the discussions involving the report would be important for the relevant departments to avoid similar problems from recurring.
“I have been making comments on (the auditor-general’s report) for a long time, there are problems that keep happening. If you read a report made a few years ago, a watch worth RM400 was charged RM4,000. There are schoolbooks that do not reach the students but are paid for.
“Things like this sometimes happen again because our monitoring is weak,” he added.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said civil servants could emphasise deepening their knowledge and gaining experience in the West, but not to the point of losing their identity as a Muslim and a Malaysian.
“Civil servants represent a pattern of thinking and the formation of ideas than just carrying out normal tasks in the department,” he said. – Bernama, November 6, 2023
