Ministerial bodies to be reviewed to prevent overlapping
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday bodies and institutions under various ministries will be reviewed so that there will be no overlapping of duties, thus optimising resources.
“We want to lower costs. So, irrelevant bodies will be abolished... many of these are from the Health Ministry.”
Dr Mahathir said the cabinet haddi scussed the issue.
On the policy of monopolies practised by the previous administration, he said the government would review this to de- cide whether to do away with the policy, expand it or restrict it to a select few.
“There is a monopoly on the importation of rice, for instance, but there are other groups having monopoly over other things.
“So, we need to look at the operational value of these monopolies and see what needs to be done.”
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub said the monopoly to import rice by Padiberas Nasional Bhd had been terminated as per the cabinet decision yesterday.
He said a working paper on breaking up the monopoly with feedback from the ministry and other stakeholders would be drafted before being submitted to the government for action.
“To protect the interests of local padi farmers, we have identified the modules used by other countries (on importing the staple), like Indonesia, which has been successful in breaking up the monopoly on rice,” he said.