Sack civil servants mishandling public funds

SHAH ALAM - Stern action, including sacking irresponsible civil servants mishandling the country's revenue sources must be implemented to prevent future losses of public funds, said Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) deputy chief executive officer Sudhagaran Stanley.

He said the pilferage and mismanagement issues were so severe that the country suffered huge losses.

Sudhagaran said it was time to take more decisive action to prevent repeating of the same issues.

"This should be stopped. A serious warning must be issued to all government agencies stating that pilferage and waste of money are not acceptable.

"Take immediate action to prosecute, terminate services and blacklist contractors, agents, organisations involved in the pilferage of the public funds," he said.

Sudhagaran also suggested the government to immediately table a Procurement Bill to control the government's procurement.

"The current system or policy is ineffective. A more comprehensive legislation to address this issue is needed," he said.

He added that the government must also table a Ombudsman Bill to deal with issues related to civil servants.

"It is time to bring the country forward by demanding high level of professionalism and intergity from civil servants.

"Both bills mentioned are part of the National Anti-Corruption Plan. Previous administration had conducted research and consultation but they had no 'political will' to present it. All eyes and hope are now on the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to not delay the presentation of this bill anymore," he said.

"Even with solid evidence of malpractices by civil sevants, this matter will still continue if the government takes no serious action," he stressed.