‘INTEGRITY ISSUES UNDER CONTROL’
Action will be taken against staff who slip up, says Ali Hamsa
AZURA ABAS PUTRAJAYA news@nst.com.my
ALTHOUGH integrity issues still exist in the civil service, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said it was under control.
He said efforts were being made to raise the awareness among public servants through various programmes.
“I can’t say it is a big problem, but I can’t say there is no such problem, either.
“If civil servants slip up, action will be taken against them. It is a manageable problem that can be controlled.
“The MACC (Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission) has been carrying out their duties to monitor civil servants,” he said at the 2016 Prime Minister’s Department Excellent Service Awards here, yesterday.
Ali said integrity issues involved both government officers and their staff.
He said the arrests by MACC should serve as a reminder to civil servants to uphold integrity.
Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services president Datuk Azih Muda said the number of civil servants with integrity issues was small.
“The majority of those in the civil service sector are solid and upstanding people.
“There must be a strong sense of discipline and sincerity among civil servants when executing their duties. They must know what is right and wrong. For Muslims, we believe our actions will be judged by God.”
MACC had declared 2017 as the year it would focus on the civil and banking sectors, and government-linked companies.
MACC deputy commissioner Datuk Azam Baki said the agency had given itself three years to clean up the civil service.
As many as 665 investigation papers were opened from 2016 to February involving civil servants, with 548 government workers arrested and 63 cases brought to court.
On the execution of government projects, Ali said he was not interested to entertain excuses of slow execution of such projects.
He said while waiting for the budget to carry out projects, those involved should use that period to complete their planning.
“One should not give the excuse that they need more time to plan things out after they have received the project allocation.”
Ali said he was optimistic with the smooth execution of government projects, with no delays reported so far.
He urged department heads to go to the ground and check on those manning the counters and those in charge of inventory so that they would have a better picture of the status of the project.