Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's revelation yesterday that the government will implement a new public delivery system in 13 days has caught many by surprise.

Addressing Kuala Lumpur City Hall senior officials during a one-day tour of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Abdullah said he wants all state leaders and ministers to ensure that the government machinery is prepared to implement the new government delivery system in 13 days.

He said he gave the instruction at the National Physical Planning Committee meeting attended by all the menteri besar, chief ministers and several ministers in Putrajaya on Wednesday.

Abdullah was quoted in the New Strait Times as saying that "I hope the ministers will follow up on the matter. This is important as we only have 13 days to go. We want them to monitor the state of preparedness to carry out the new government delivery system."

Many eyebrows were raised over a self-imposed strict deadline of 13 days.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok welcomes any effort by the government but is skeptical of the promise and says that Abdullah has "talked too much".

She attributes the sudden promise to the sentiment that people are tired after too much rhetoric and nothing is being done.

PM losing patience

The timing of the statement comes after a list high profile "crack-ups" of new government buildings, like the brand-new administrative capital of Putrajaya; the RM270 million world's second largest court complex in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur and the Parliament building after a RM100 million renovation.

Kota Melaka MP Wong Nai Chee also commented that "any kind of improvement will be a bonus" and that a possible factor behind the timing of the statement is that Abdullah is "very concerned over the lag of efficiency by our public delivery system after the fiasco over government buildings and contracts".

"We can understand if the prime minister is losing patience," he added.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said in a statement today that "to ensure the success of this 'new public service delivery system,' the prime minister would be well-advised to adopt a more consultative approach to involve the participation of all stakeholders in the country.

This, he said, should include MPs, political parties, professional organisations, chambers of commerce, NGOs and the media in order to seek their inputs before any final announcement of a "revolution" of government delivery system is made.