PUTRAJAYA: Local councils should adhere to the work manual, desk file and work flow chart in carrying out their duties and responsibilities efficiently.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this was important as it would enable work to be done within the time period set and this would reduce corruption from happening.
He said these administration systems which were in place previously would ease working process.
“Work efficiency could be obtained through the arrangements of these work systems so that work would not be as complex. People would know what to do if these systems were in place.
“We have introduced these administration systems before to ease the work burden of administers or managers,” he said in a speech at the launch of the Empowering Local Councils Convention hosted by Housing and Local Government Ministry today.
He said when approving a decision, sometimes an officer must wait for another officer to approve it. But if the officer works based on the desk file, there’s no need to wait for other officer’s approval and work can be done quickly and smoothly.
Speaking on corruption, Dr Mahathir said power corrupts, and civil servants should be mindful of that at all time.
“The saying ‘absolute power, corrupts absolutely’ must be remembered at all times. The power entrusted to officers is not for their personal use but given to them to carry out their duties and responsibilities successfully.
“If they abuse the power entrusted to them, the people would suffer the consequences,” he said, adding that the government now wants work to be done fast.
“If an application is made, it should be approved within three days. If it’s not processed for months or maybe years, it could result in the applicant offering bribe.
“And once the officer know that delaying would mean more money, they would then delay it purposely,” he added.
Dr Mahathir said adhering to the work flow chart and giving time for each process to be carried would reduce the occurrences of corruption.
Meanwhile, he admitted that there were several pledges in the Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto which were not fulfilled yet.
“This is because the manifesto was done before we took over the government and we didn’t have knowledge and didn’t know the actual condition of the country.
“That’s why the current manifesto couldn’t be implemented immediately. It will take time to build an administration which could carry out duties based on the manifesto.
“If there is a delay, it doesn’t matter as long as our thinking is towards implementing the manifesto,” he added.
Earlier, the premier also launched the i-tegur application for people to make a complaint to the local councils.
The application can be downloaded from Google Play store and Apple Store.