DAP wants an independent Financial Accountability Commission (FAC) to address mismanagement in the government, says its Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

The demand, Pua said, comes in light of the powerlessness of the government authorities and the prime minister’s “lack of political will” to tackle the scandalous offences highlighted in the Auditor-General’s (AG) reports presented each year.

NONE “The FAC should not be staffed with any civil servant to avoid conflicts of interest, but instead be headed by leading professionals in the field of audit and integrity, such as the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) and Transparency International (TI) Malaysia,” said Pua ( right ), who is DAP national publicity secretary.

He said the commission should be set up via an Act of Parliament and should be answerable only to Parliament, and be vested with powers to take “punitive and disciplinary actions against officers guilty of misconduct, negligence and sheer incompetence”.

He was responding to the reports of financial horrors in the annual audit, for which offenders never get more than a reprimand letter.

NONE “The logical conclusion from the Auditor-General’s Report is that heads must roll, but it rarely or never happens,” the MP said in a statement today.

“The government’s chief secretary Sidek Hassan ( left ) has the all-important role to take the necessary disciplinary actions against the relevant offenders, including the supervising officers who failed in exercising their responsibility in a diligent fashion.  

“However, as informed by the Auditor-General during our Public Accounts Committee (PAC) briefing yesterday, most of these offending officers are only given a letter of reprimand ( surat teguran ) before the cases are closed,” said Pua.

Such a lack of decisive action, he said, was the cause of public servants having “little disincentive” to cut wastage and mismanagement, and encouraged abuse, “since the ‘rewards’ far outweigh the potential punishment”.

Same old, same old

Pua noted that the audit reports have been ineffective in combatting what could be seen as a dire picture of financial mismanagement within the entire civil service, if extrapolated from the small sample of cases that the AG’s report could only manage to inspect from its limited resources.

Another symptom, he said, was the incidence of repeat offenders from previous reports.

NONE “There are many repeat offenders as well in the current year’s report. Of note is the construction of computer laboratories by the Ministry of Education throughout the country.

“In Sabah, a RM160.7 million project was awarded to equip 300 schools by 2008.  However, as at the end of 2010, only two computer laboratories were completed,” said Pua.

He cited bumiputera welfare agency Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) as another repeat offender for its overpriced purchases, such as billing the government RM1,200 for an oven worth RM419 and folding beds that only cost RM100  for RM500 each.

NONE “Despite an ‘upgrade’ in ratings for the overall financial management by government departments and agencies (in the present report), the tales of financial abuse and degrees of incompetence are no less fantastic than in previous years,” Pua pointed out.

“In previous years, we had screwdrivers worth RM32 purchased at RM224 each, or a car jack worth RM50 purchased at RM5,700, making a complete mockery of the government’s procurement process.  

“Last year, Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara in Balik Pulau (Penang) purchased a whole list of products for its computer laboratory at prices well above the market price, including two Acer computer laptops at RM84,640 when these were worth only be a tenth of the price paid,” he said.

The MP blamed the recurring problem on the “lack of political will from the prime minister and his cabinet to mete out effective punishment and deterrence to offending civil servants” as well as the PAC’s lack of punitive power.

'Audit' not in BN's dictionary

Meanwhile PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said sarcastically that the government was “deaf” to criticism over the appalling audit report.

NONE “The BN government does not understand the language of the audit report; they can only be stirred by the language of the ballot box,” he said in a statement today.

“This is the conclusion from the Auditor General’s Report, that once again reveals serious weaknesses in the financial administration of the country, particularly in administrating projects and in procurement.”

He lamented that despite annual rebuke by the PAC, the same mistakes are repeated; the “culture of leakages, extravagance and wastage that is sown by BN without slightest hint of regret”.

Tuan Ibrahim ( above ) in particular took issue to how government agencies were breaking laws, for example in the case of the National Library occupying its new wing without a certificate of fitness (CF).

“This by right should not happen, as a government agency would surely know the law, as well as the risk of occupying a building without a CF,” he said.

He also noted the many cases of projects being awarded through direct negotiation “that is clearly meant to give the projects to the cronies and those who do not qualify to receive them”.

As an example, said Tuan Ibrahim, the direct negotiation in the National Sports Council’s purchase of “ sick horses ” has led to a “financial loss for the nation”.

“Apart from this, government-linked companies are ticked off year after year for continued losses,” he said, for example the biggest loser National Housing Agency (RM21.4 million), Indah Water Consortium (RM33.4 million), KTM Bhd (RM92.6 million), and Prasarana Bhd (RM367.1 million).

“Such frustration will surely repeat, as long as the government is not replaced by new one that is more trustworthy and responsible,” he added.

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