Two former government officials got away scot-free in the case of unnecessary spending by the Education Ministry because they have since retired.

Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa said this during a townhall session of the second series of the Auditor-General's (AG) 2014 report.

"This case involved five government servants, two of them have retired. Since they have retired, they have escaped (punishment).

"That's why we must identify the (malpractice) earlier on. If it is not crime-related, disciplinary action cannot be taken against those who have retired.”

The Auditor-General's report had highlighted the Education Ministry spending RM396,760 for 1,417 copies of a spell-checker software for 20 schools in Putrajaya.

The software were priced at RM280 each. 270 copies of the software were surplus to requirement, leading to unnecessary spending by the ministry worth RM75,600.

Ali later joked, saying that young government servants should keep an eye on their superiors lest they commit malpractice.

"My advice to young officers, your bosses are old and they are going to retire. If you see them commit any wrongdoing, you must reprimand them," he said.

Software came in a package

Meanwhile, Education Ministry secretary-general Madinah Mohamad explained the cost of the software which were priced at RM280 each.

"The software came together in a package with computers," she said.

On another issue, Agriculture and Agro-Based Ministry secretary-general Mohd Arif Ab Rahman defended his predecessor over a contract worth RM268million for a National Key Economic Area (NKEA) project.

On his predecessor who had signed the contract for a aquaculture project without authorisation from the then minister Noh Omar ( photo ), Arif said the contract was still valid.

"I think the former secretary-general signed it in good faith, to speed up the project," he said.

Arif also pointed out how there was no standard operating procedure (SOP) for NKEA projects which usually involve huge sums of money.

"We have set-up a committee to revisit all SOPs under all NKEA projects. There has been no SOP given as guidelines to the ministry," he said.

Secretary-generals of ministries are only allowed to sign contracts worth not more than RM100 million. Authorisation is needed by the minister of the particular ministry for amounts above RM100 million.