Some govt depts may be privatised, says PM
KUALA LUMPUR: The government is looking at the feasibility of privatising parts of the civil service to trim its bloated size, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said the government had introduced a similar measure in 1983 that had reduced its financial burden while improving efficiency and quality of work, and spurring economic growth.
“We have the option of transferring the officers to the private sector and we can privatise several government departments.
“Like what we did to Telekom. It was their choice if they wanted to join Telekom or stay with the government, but there were conditions,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said the government will look at the qualifications of civil servants for placement in the private sector to prevent civil servants from losing their jobs.
A civil service too large in terms of the number of employees will increase the government operating expenditure and reduce the financial allocations for development, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.
The Prime Minister said that if there is no control over the size of the existing 1.7 million civil service staff size, the operating expenditure will take up a huge portion of the country’s annual budget.
“This will slow down economic growth due to the government’s inability to spend on development projects to generate multiplier effects on the country’s economic and social growth,” he said during the Ministers’ Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.
He was replying to a question from Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed Said (BN-Kuala Krau) who had wanted to know the rationale for the proposal to reduce the number of civil servants.
Dr Mahathir said the government felt that the number of civil servants can be reduced without jeopardising the performance of service delivery, the source of income of the officers involved and employment opportunities.
The strategy of the Privatisation Policy introduced in 1983 is still relevant to be used to resolve the issue of the number of civil servants, by focusing on increasing productivity and using energy resources optimally, he said.
The government must also ensure that those who are affected are provided job opportunities in other economic sectors before the service is downsized by providing a holistic plan so that the transition does not adversely affect the running or management of the nation.
Dr Mahathir said the increase in government expenditure is a result of the actions of the previous government which was inclined to raise the salary of civil servants in an effort to buy their loyalty, thus increasing the cost of living.