After months of speculation, the government for the first time today confirmed that former Public Services Department (PSD) chief Abu Bakar Abdullah was sacked over the botched Public Service Remuneration Scheme (SPBA).

This was made public by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz in a parliamentary written reply to Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar, which was circulated to the media today.

“The service of Abu Bakar Abdullah, former PSD chief, was terminated on July 1, 2012 in the public interest.

“The decision was made due to his leading role in the implementation of the SBPA which failed to take into account the interests of all groups in the service, particularly for support groups and the huge cost implications, to the government,” reads the written reply.

The reply added that due to Abu Bakar’s long service, he was allowed to retire with his regular pension benefits.

NONE However, Mahfuz ( right ) told a press conference at the Parliament lobby this morning that Abu Bakar was made a scapegoat for the failed SBPA plan.

“I am against SBPA but to scapegoat him (Abu Bakar) by putting all of SBPA’s faults on his shoulders... he was only performing his duty and he was also a member of the cabinet-level salary committee which was chaired by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“When the (SBPA) report was presented to the committee, the prime minister himself agreed it was good and the government only cancelled it after it faced fierce opposition,” he said.

As such, Mahfuz said several people were responsible for the flop including the premier himself and Abu Bakar should not be the sole person to take the fall.

He added that the plan was first drafted by a consultant company during the tenure of the previous PSD chief, stating: “When Abu Bakar came in, the plan was already on his table.”

The SBPA, had it been implemented, would have seen top ranking officials receive hefty pay hikes while lower tier workers would only get increases as low as RM10.