Sidek pledges re-engineering to cut graft, red tape

By Leslie Lau
Consultant Editor

KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 – Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan says the answer to corruption and inefficiency in the civil service is to cut red tape and re-engineer the way contracts are awarded and payment for work is approved.

He said the government would cut down the steps taken to award contracts or make payment, but the post-audit process would have to be tightened to catch corrupt and lazy officials.

“If you have a roadblock everyone has to slow down but if there are no roadblocks people can drive faster. Of course if I were lazy then I don’t have to work. So you have to catch it at the post-audit stage,” he told The Malaysian Insider in a recent interview at his office in Putrajaya.

Mohd Sidek, who has been chief secretary since 2006, was responding to questions about civil service graft and constant delays in the awarding of contracts and payments.

Such delays have hampered government efforts to attract businesses and investments, as there have been cases where it could take up to a year from the time a letter of intent is signed until a contract is awarded.

Responding to this, Mohd Sidek said the current practice of imposing a series of checks contributes to delays and is based on the notion that government officers cannot be trusted.

“But if you empower one person to check through the documents then it will be much faster.

“And at the post-audit stage, if we find that person has been naughty then we will come down with 30,000 tonnes of bricks,” he said.

The chief secretary pointed out that when he took up his appointment in 2006, he received many complaints that payment for contracts was often not on time, even though the rule then was that contractors were to have been paid within 30 days of an invoice being received.

“So I told my officers to shorten the period even further, to 14 days,” he said, pointing out that he did not increase his staff strength but instead made his officers work extra hours to clear the backlog.

Citing last month’s statistics, Mohd Sidek said that of the RM100 million in contracts handled by the prime minister’s department, 97% were paid out within seven days.

But he acknowledged that it would take time to push through this re-engineering process to all ministries and government departments.

For now, the chief secretary’s office directly monitors the performance of all government departments and ministries.

If any ministry is found to have failed to make the 14-day deadline, a directive is issued for the matter to be resolved within 24 hours.

Mohd Sidek said that a dipstick survey conducted last year showed that the worst performing government departments were the various land offices and local councils.

He also refuted the perception that the civil service, at 1.2 million strong, was bloated and needed to be trimmed.

The chief secretary pointed out that there were nearly 500,000 government school teachers, university lecturers and other staff involved in education. The health services has more than 200,000 civil servants. The police and armed forces also had approximately 100,000 personnel in each service.

“But the public is actually clamouring for smaller classrooms so that means we need to hire more teachers. There is also a shortage of doctors,” he said.

Mohd Sidek said his focus now was not on the size of the civil service but to build a “culture of competence and perfection” among government servants.

119 Kakitangan Kontrak JPM Kecewa Diberhentikan Kerja

KUALA TERENGGANU, 13 Jun (Bernama) -- Kira-kira 70 kakitangan kontrak Jabatan Pelajaran yang bekerja sebagai buruh dalam pelbagai jabatan di Terengganu, berkumpul di Dewan Belia dan Sukan Jalan Pasir Panjang bagi melahirkan kekecewaan mereka kerana akan diberhentikan kerja mulai 1 Julai ini.

Mereka adalah sebahagian daripada 120 kakitangan kontrak yang terbabit dalam langkah pemberhentian kerja itu.

Salah seorang daripada mereka, Alias Awang, 47, dari Kampung Banggol Tuan Muda, Manir, berkata beliau bekerja lebih 12 tahun sebagai tukang kebun di Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Gemuruh.

"Jadi, kalau saya diberhentikan kerja ke mana pula saya hendak cari kerja, sedangkan umur saya telah lanjut dan anak-anak masih ada yang bersekolah," katanya.

Zainal Shahruddin, 50, buruh di Sekolah Kompleks Gong Badak pula mengharapkan pihak berkenaan mengambil semula beliau dan rakan-rakan yang senasib dengannya untuk bekerja memandangkan ada di antara mereka yang sudah bekerja lebih 20 tahun.

Beliau berkata yang lebih menyedihkan lagi ramai di kalangan kakitangan kontrak JPM ini mempunyai banyak tanggungan seperti anak masih bersekolah dan pinjaman bank.

Ramlah Kassim, 45, yang bekerja sebagai buruh di Sekolah Rendah Wakaf Mempelam sejak 13 tahun lepas, berharap kakitangan kontrak Jabatan Pelajaran ini akan diambil bekerja oleh kerajaan negeri sesuai dengan kelayakan kelulusan kakitangan berkenaan.

-- BERNAMA

Imej JPAM Dipertingkat Sebagai Kumpulan Satukan Perpaduan - Hishammuddin

KLUANG, 13 Jun (Bernama) -- Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) akan mempertingkat imej Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (JPAM) yang kini lebih berfungsi sebagai kumpulan sokongan bantuan bencana kepada kumpulan sukarelawan yang boleh menyatukan perpaduan kaum di negara ini.

Menterinya Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein berkata JPAM yang ditubuhkan sejak zaman darurat dan konfrantasi dapat membantu kerajaan menjayakan konsep 1Malaysia sekaligus meringankan beban Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) dalam mengawal keselamatan.

"Walaupun kita berada dalam landskap baru, ancaman yang boleh menjejaskan perpaduan kaum tetap boleh berlaku seperti perbincangan isu perkauman yang tidak menjurus kepada kemenangan mana-mana pihak pun.

"Jadi, dalam keadaan ini kenapa kita tidak melihat dalam konteks yang lebih luas yang menumpukan perkara yang boleh menyatupadukan kaum. Ini bukan retorik atau sekadar cakap kosong dan saya harap perpaduan kaum menerusi JPAM ini dapat disemarakkan," katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis pelancaran pemuafakatan dan pemantapan perkahwinan anjuran Lembaga Penduduk dan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara (LPPKN) dekat Paloh, di sini, hari ini.

Hishammuddin yang juga Anggota Parlimen Sembrong berkata beliau yakin peningkatan imej JPAM itu tidak membebankan tugas sedia ada kumpulan berkenaan dan usaha bersungguh-sungguh akan dilakukan bagi menarik generasi muda menyertai kumpulan itu.

Sementara itu, mengulas mengenai usaha pihak tertentu yang cuba menghidupkan gerakan Al-Arqam, yang telah diharamkan pada 1994, secara halus menerusi internet, Naib Presiden Umno itu menegaskan pihaknya tidak akan berkompromi dengan mana-mana pihak dan akan menggunakan undang-undang sedia ada demi kepentingan negara.

Bagaimanapun, katanya, siasatan terperinci akan dilakukan untuk mendapatkan fakta sebenar kerana KDN tidak mahu bersandarkan terhadap apa yang dimuatkan di dalam internet semata-mata.

Sebuah akhbar hari ini melaporkan terdapat beberapa klip video yang mengagungkan bekas pemimpin Al-Arqam, Ashaari Muhammad secara melampau yang dimuat naik ke laman web Youtube.

Mengulas mengenai insiden pergaduhan antara banduan dan kakitangan Penjara Sungai Buloh, Rabu lepas, Hishammuddin berkata beliau belum bersedia untuk menjawab insiden itu dengan terperinci dan sedang menunggu hasil siasatan sepenuhnya.

-- BERNAMA