22. Accountability Index
A very bold, imaginative and excellent method to curb corruption and financial mismanagement in the Government. With ACA being given the powers to investigate and prosecute, I am sure this is the start of cleaning up the coffers and eventually leading to a clean administration. Justice must not only be done but it must seen to be done. The culprits must be booked and punishments meted out. There should be no recurrence of the same offence again the following year. It is no point doing an audit every year if the offence continues to be repeated. For example, on the issue of discounts and commissions, it should rightfully go back to the government and not the officer (a civil servant) approving the purchase. It is simple logic that monies received for what is paid for by the government should go back to the government. There should be a mechanism set-up for this purpose.The total government expenditure for 2008 is RM 177 Billion. This is a colossal sum to be spent in a year. The eagerness for corrupt practices is immense. But with prudence, effective supervision and audit, it is hoped that mismanagement is eliminated. We hope that similar clean-up practices and policies are set up in all the ministries and state governments leading to a Gemilang, Cemerlang, and Terbilang nation. The campaign starts now.
The Auditor-General will introduce a financial management accountability index for all ministries and state treasuries starting next year in an effort to curb financial mismanagement of public funds.
Announcing the move today, Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said the index would be an objective financial management assessment of all ministries and state governments where marks would be awarded and star ratings given based on the marks.
"If they have 90 per cent marks and above then they would be given a 4-star rating but if their marks are below 15 then they would only obtain 1-star rating. Based on the rating they would be able to undertake corrective measures to boost their rating.
"Secretary-generals and top officers at a certain ministry must bear in mind that this rating would affect their promotions or if their contracts would be extended. This is bearing in mind that the Auditor-General's office is also consulted in the promotion of top officials of a ministry or state government," he told a press conference here today.
Ambrin hoped that the new system would result in greater transparency in the financial management of ministries and state governments, as the Auditor-General's office would monitor all financial dealings undertaken by ministries and state governments.
The Auditor-General also said that all other government agencies and local councils would be audited on a rotational basis every three years under the new system.
The Auditor-General's report this year caused a stir when it revealed glaring financial mismanagement in several ministries, audited by the Auditor-General's office, warranting the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to investigate the cases concerned.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the ACA was free to investigate any information contained in the 2006 Auditor-General's Report released last Friday.
Abdullah said the Auditor-General's Report was a source of information that could be scrutinised by the ACA to determine whether there was a need for investigation.
The 2006 Auditor-General's Report, among others, reveals several cases of mismanagement of public funds by a number of ministries, including the Youth and Sports Ministry, involving the purchase of items and equipment costing more than triple their market price.
The ministry's secretary-general was also reported to have signed, on behalf of the government, 11 contracts worth between RM7.99 million and RM74.2 million pertaining to the National Skills Training Institute.
Asked why the 2006 Report had made such an alarming finding, Ambrin said the media had played a visible role in highlighting certain mismanagement of funds contained in the newly released Report as "every year we have identified problems but this year the media picked it up".
Ambrin said one of the main issues in the Report was overspending by Ministries and this was because "they had a lot of ad-hoc expenditure".
"Sometimes they have to organise a programme based on the needs of that particular time. For this they have to use funds allocated to some other things. So when the time comes to implement the other things, they run out of money. I don't blame them. But this is the reason why the government has its supplementary budget from time to time," he said.
On procurement, Ambrin ruled out the possibility of coming out with more rules and regulations to make it more difficult for officers to mismanage funds.
He said the existing rules were clear, that if a ministry wanted to go into direct negotiation for purchase of certain things, it would need the approval of the Treasury and purchase the goods at the lowest price.
"After they negotiate, they should get back to the Treasury and seek approval. We have in some cases found that while the approval for direct negotiations were granted, they did not receive permission to go ahead and buy the goods.
Asked if he would lodge a ACA report, he said there was no need to do so as the Agency had already started its own investigations based on the 2006 Auditor-General's Report.
He said the Auditor-General's auditing was based on "value for money on how certain projects were planned, implemented and monitored while checking if the project was done efficiently and delivered on time and that the said project gave the desired result".
He said the Auditor-General's office also provided recommendations to ministries and other audited agencies on how they could improve their financial management skills and that it had a team to monitor the progress of the relevant government agencies - Bernama.
