Fifty public officers holding sensitive posts in various ministries will be transferred internally or to other ministries beginning this month, chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa said.

He said these officers had been holding sensitive posts, namely in the finance, procurement and contract divisions, for between five and 10 years.

"They are being transferred not because they were suspected of committing any offences, but as required based on existing circulars to avoid leakages. All of them are good officers."

Ali said told reporters after the presentation of the Star Rating System Index (SSR Index) recognition certificate for public agencies in Putrajaya today.

He said the Public Services Department was preparing the letter of transfer for the officers.

“This time around, we have asked (the heads of departments) not to hold the officers back (from being transferred) so that the officers from the common service scheme can be transferred smoothly without affecting their work," Ali said.

Meantime, Ali described the graft scandal involving the Youth and Sports Ministry as “just one of the cases” and advised the public not to liken other public officers to the ones involved in the case.

"I do not want the moral behaviour of government officials to be disturbed just because of the attitude of one or two irresponsible officers," he said.

Ali said he expected to receive the audit investigation report on the case from the National Audit Department at the end of this month.

"We will look in the Audit Department's recommendations and find a way to overcome the weaknesses and identify the source of leakage," he said.

Earlier, Ali presented the SSR Index certificates to 42 public agencies, including 15 ministries, which had received five-star rating in the assessment for the year 2015.

The star rating is a mechanism used to measure and evaluate public agencies' performance based on organisational development approach.

At the event, Ali also launched the 'Take A Break ... Read! @Putrajaya 2016: A Book Alive' programme to encourage a reading culture among the people, besides promoting the caring attitude of civil servants through the donation of reading materials.

The programme will run for seven weeks starting from yesterday until May 27, with a number of 'collection boxes' placed in several strategic areas in Putrajaya.

"A total of 15,000 reading materials are expected to be collected and then be classified and sent to the target groups, such as orphanages, Orang Asli settlements and community halls," he added.

- Bernama