Ministries’ sec-gens to be put on the spot over AG’s Report findings
(fz.com) – Secretary–generals of ministries (KSU) which are mentioned unfavourably in the Auditor-General (AG)’s Report 2013 will be put on the spot in front of the entire nation.
They will be made to answer for questionable procurements and expenditure which will be subject of the report to be tabled on Monday.
Following the tabling of the report, there will be a forum at the Integrity Institute of Malaysia on Tuesday.
The forum, to be televised live about 2pm on TV1 (time to be confirmed) will start with a briefing on the AG’s Report findings as well as key areas of improvement.
Following which there will be a Q&A (question and answer session) where the secretaries-general of the respective ministries will have to field questions from some of the 200 invited guests at the forum.
These 200 individuals are stakeholders from the media, non-governmental organisations, think tanks and representatives from the private sector, among others.
“This is an effort to be more transparent and provide the public with more comprehensive and acceptable answers,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low who is organising the initiative.
Apart from Low, whose portfolio covers transparency, good governance and fighting corruption, panel members include his counterpart from the same ministry Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.
“Of course at the end of the day, the respective minister must be responsible for his ministry’s affairs and will continue to answer to Parliament, but at times he will not know the technical details and actual reasons for certain expenditure,” Low told fz.com yesterday.
“This is a sincere effort for change,” said the former Transparency International president who was roped into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Cabinet to add credibility to the latter’s efforts centred on transformation.
It is understood however that Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) is reluctant to screen the entire session live, especially the Q&A, which could prove embarrassing to some of the ministry officials by showing the weaknesses of their administration.
Asked if this was a mere cosmetic exercise, Low said as for now the entire session is expected to be aired live, although RTM may have programming issues to accommodate the live forum and Q&A.
“I know some of them may not like it (being put on the spot) but it is time for them (the secretaries-general) to also be accountable for what goes on in their ministries,” said Low.
He declined to reveal which ministries will be participating in the forum as the Report is yet to be declassified.
However the respective ministries will be notified and given adequate time to prepare their answers as the AG’s Report, it is understood will be made available to members of parliament (MP) on Thursday.
Low said the next tabling of the AG’s Report in November will also be followed by a similar forum.
From this year, the AG’s Report will be presented three times as another effort in promoting transparency. It is also meant to plug leakages faster, instead of previously having to wait an entire year to discover mismanagement.
The first presentation of the 2013 Report on April 7 saw 109 recommendations made to correct the weaknesses and leakages.
The first report focused on 14 federal ministries and departments, as well as two government-linked companies.
Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang, Low said, will not be present in an effort to maintain the independence of the National Audit Department.
The AG’s Report so far raised 83 spending related issues in the first four months of the year.
This includes the awarding of the RM342.55 million Paya Peda Dam project in Terengganu to inexperienced contractors JAKS Resources Bhd and Pembinaan Sujaman Sdn Bhd through direct negotiation.
Another revelation was the RM19.56 million in cost overruns for the Kuantan court complex which was delayed by 560 days; and participants in the Retail Stores Transformation Programme (Tukar) were forced to sell or rent their premises to other parties, due to poor sales.
A total of 18 (26%) of 70 retail stores of sundry shops involved in the programme suffered a decline in sales partly due to competition from other nearby supermarkets, while 10 stores had closed down.
Tukar is an entry point project (EPP) under the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) and is supervised by the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK).
