Pakatan: Set up council to stop wastage of funds
Pakatan Rakyat leaders want a special council formed to act against ministries and government agencies mismanaging funds
Anisah Shukry, FMT
The Pakatan Rakyat proposed today that a three-member council be set up to put a stop to the government’s massive mismanagement of public funds as detailed in the Auditor-General’s annual report.
The council must comprise the Opposition Leader and Auditor-General (AG), and chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, Pakatan leaders said today.
“The council should look into enforcement as well as prevention and undertake structural reforms to get to the bottom of the issue,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told reporters the parliament lobby today.
“The Auditor-General is there to look at each government agency. With the council in place, action can actually be taken against those who are squandering money,” he said.
He added that among the steps, the council must ensure that tenders were open and transparent.
Lim said with such prominent figures in the council, firm action would be possible, unlike the toothless Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He said the PAC was ineffective as it did not have the power to take action against agencies guilty of mismanaging public funds.
He added that the PAC only hauled up officials for questioning and produced reports on the issue.
“This wastage happens yearly and is never-ending. So as long as there is no serious action, we will see this happen again next year,” said the Penang Chief Minister.
PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar said the report proved the government agencies had not learned their lessons.
