Local authorities must adhere to work procedure to curb corruption – PM
PUTRAJAYA: Local authorities have to adhere to the provisions of the desk file, work procedure manual and flowchart in discharging their duties and responsibilities within time frames to curb corruption, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.
He said this was due to the fact that the administrative system introduced would facilitate administrators to carry out their duties efficiently and effectively.
Speaking at the Local Councils Empowerment Convention here, Dr Mahathir said the purpose of the system was to enable an officer to approve the application in an orderly manner without waiting for other officers approval first.
Sometimes, for a decision to be approved, the officer will have to wait for other officers for their approvals, which will delay the process. Instead, if the officer focuses on his or her duties by adhering to the desk file, then the work will run smoothly and quickly.
In this way, we can be sure that everything goes well. It is also important to ensure that the applicants also know the correct procedure in submitting an application, either for building a house, hotel or tower as this will facilitate administrative matters, he said.
Dr Mahathir also reminded local authorities (LAs) staff not to delay in approving the application because when there was a delay, it could lead to corruption incidents between officials and applicants.
Keep in mind at all time that power entrusted is not for own use but to ensure responsibilities to be carried out successfully by LAs officers.
If we abuse the power, the community will definitely be burdened as the development will have to be implemented with bigger allocation, he said.
Citing an English phrase ‘power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely’, Dr Mahathir said corruption incidents would occur when officials deliberately delayed the approval of the application for which the applicant had to wait for a long time and would offer a little money to help accelerate the process.
Whenever a sum of money is given, the officer will start to feel that if the application or decision is deliberately delayed, then there is a favour awaits him, so this is the beginning of corruption in government.
When the high-level leaders abuse the power, then all government machinery will be involved with corruption. Due to corruption, national development will not be achieved as expected by the people, he said.
Dr Mahathir also said that if the arrangement of the government machinery was not well-organised, then the administration would be in a mess and not moving forward effectively.