PUTRAJAYA: Government department heads have been asked to prepare detailed reviews based on issues raised in the Auditor-General's (A-G) report.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said it would not only involve issues involving the respective departments, but also to prepare an overall framework to improve governance.
"I will suggest to the Chief Secretary to the Government that everything, the minutes of discussions on the reports (are taken).
"Heads of departments, director-generals and secretary-generals must prepare the minutes to be submitted to the Chief Secretary to the Government," he said at the Prime Minister's Department monthly assembly today.
The reports, Anwar said, would discuss the advice and recommendations of the A-G, as well as the specific issues involving the respective departments.
He said this would ensure that the weaknesses highlighted in the report would not be repeated, including leakages worth billions of ringgit due to policies or weaknesses in monitoring spending.
"When I was the finance minister (in a different administration), I chaired the anti-corruption management committee, we had at that time reviewed the Auditor-General's report.
"We found some problems had occurred over and over again. If you read the report a few years ago, a watch that was worth RM400 was charged RM4,000; some school books that did not reach the students were paid for. This is what I called attempting to achieve excellence without a soul."
Due to policy, the government spent billions of ringgit on subsidies that had also benefited the "super" rich people and 3.5 million foreigners, he said.
After restructuring, he said, over RM4 billion could be saved for electricity subsidy, for instance, as the top 10 per cent earners were no longer able to enjoy it.
He said the government would save about RM100 million every month following the removal of the chicken subsidy while floating the price of the item.
Earlier, he called on civil servants to deepen their knowledge and gain experience in the West, but not to the point of losing their identity as a Muslim and a Malaysian.
"Civil servants represent a pattern of thinking and the formation of ideas rather than just carrying out their tasks in the department."