Report: Most lower rank officers not following SOP

PETALING JAYA: There should be more supervision of lower rank officers in government departments, said the Auditor-General after a surprise check showed that almost three-quarters of them do not follow standard operating procedures.

According to the 2016 AuditorGeneral’s Report, out of the 265 ministry offices in the country, 193 (or 73%) did not follow procedure.

Also, a check on 148 offices of federal statutory bodies found that 109 (or 74%) did not follow established procedures, including failing to issue receipts after transactions, having discrepancies in stock records and suffering from poor documentation.

Calling for supervision to be increased on the lower rank officers in these offices, the Auditor- General also proposed continuous training for them and that disciplinary action be taken against those who failed to carry out their duties.

It also called for staff members in sensitive posts to be rotated regularly.

On a positive note, the report pointed out that financial management in the ministries has improved.

It said that all 25 ministries achieved a high score in the accountability index this year, a 36% improvement from 16 in 2015.

Federal government debts also rose to RM649.4bil last year, a 2.8% increase of RM17.9bil from the 2015 financial year.

The debts, said the report, increased by RM148.8bil over the years since 2012.

It said the increase was due to the growth in the domestic debt of RM15.759bil and foreign debt of RM2.1bil last year.

Expenditure due to the national debt – the cost to acquire loans and interest payments – also showed an increase over the five consecutive years, from RM19.5bil in 2012 to RM26.4bil last year.