Auditor-General's Report: Issues of Leakages and Graft remain unresolved

MY COMMENT: At this time of the year, just ahead of the Budget 2013-2014, the Auditor-General's report makes its grand appearance with all the dramatics associated with it. Parliament gets excited and we Malaysians are given the usual treat of leakages and overspending by Government ministries through the mainstream. You can bet that come next year around this time, the same drama will be replayed.No one in government and ministers are not held accountable.

The MACC gets into the act, this time rather sheepishly because it is no longer credible. The Public Accounts Committee under this Nur Jazlan fella  meets but its recommendations are of no consequence. If you visit http://malaysiafactbook.com/Public_Accounts_Committee, you will find this quote:

"If you get from the people because of your position, that is bribery. Would you get it if you are not holding that position, or if you stay in your father's house?" — Prophet Muhammad. "Dan janganlah kamu cenderung kepada orang yang berlaku zalim yang akan menyebabkan kamu dibakar api neraka, sedang kamu tidak ada sebarang penolong pun selain daripada ALLAH SWT. Kemudian kamu tidak akan diberi pertolongan" — Surah Hud Ayat 113

Nice reminder, that is there is all to it. Come to the PAC meeting, sit down and have tea tarik and some cakes. After that, meet the Press and pretend to be serious about mismanagement in government. In truth PAC condones the actions of ministers and public managers who are running our country into the ground.

And I wonder what Idris Jala and his PEMANDU are doing? Alright, I know, they are waiting to engage another consultant, perhaps Mckinsey again, to prepare a glowing report to say that all that we read in the mainstream and alternative media and blogs like mine about mismanagement in government, to put it mildly, is just a matter of perception. Actually, we are doing well in public administration and so business goes on as usual. The Auditor-General's report is a waste of money. Close  the audit department and let the government do as it pleases so that we continue to be taken for a ride. There is NO accountability and the culture of impunity remains embedded. For how long more?--Din Merican

Auditor-General's Report: Issues of Leakages and Graft remain unresolved

by Aidila Razak@http://www.malaysiakini.com

Issues of leakages and possible graft continue to crop up yearly in the Auditor-General's Report because organisations meant to curb such problems have "no teeth", said a former BN MP.

Kamal Salih said this included the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The Universiti Malaya (UM) adjunct professor, who was once a PAC member, said the committee's findings are not debated and there is "no follow-up".

"The PAC only meets government officers, and reviews issues raised by the Auditor-General. Then we go back to the government leaders.

"And if we ask the government department, they'd say they have taken action," he told reporters after speaking at a forum at UM last night.

He said that the MACC should be able to take its own action on matters highlighted by the Auditor-General but they are hard-pressed to do so without prosecutorial powers.

"Prosecution powers are with the Attorney General's Chambers, and that is another dysfunctional body because it is controlled by the executive," said the former Wangsa Maju MP, urging reform.

He added that government expenditure should be tracked more strictly "so we won't be surprised when we go over budget and have to ask for a supplementary budget". He said another urgent reform is on consumption subsidies, which include reviewing contracts with independent power producers, who receive natural gas subsidies.

"The contract is lopsided. It is up for review soon, but the horse has left the barn. In the future, maybe the distortions will be addressed to shift subsidies from consumption based to equity-based," he added.

'Dr M passed deficit buck to Pak Lah'

Kamal had earlier addressed a full-house forum which followed the launch of Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Wee Chong Hui's book Malaysia@50.  Among others, the book discusses the different stages of Malaysia's existence, including the "three regimes of (third Prime Minister) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad)".

Disagreeing, Kamal said that the Mahathir era was only split into two parts - Mach 1: The Bersih, Cekap, Amanah era and Mach II: The money politics era.

The second era, he said, was spurred by the UMNO battle between Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Musa Hitam, which "started money politics in Umno and started the rentier class".

"Mach II ended after the (1998 financial crisis), when the numbers were on the wall and (Mahathir) knew he could not resolve the deficit problem. So he passed it to Pak Lah (fourth Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and the first thing Pak Lah tried to do to remove the deficit is to remove mega projects," he added.

Other speakers at the forum organised by the Faculty of Economics and Administration and Malaysian Social Science Association, were UM Political Economist Lee Hwok Aun and Sociologist Abdul Rahman Embong.