PUTRAJAYA: Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar has criticised the bureaucracy and the "strong" culture of working in silos within the civil service.
In his maiden address, Shamsul said the problem stemmed from some civil servants feeling they were superior to others.
"The cause of this lies in a sense of superiority or the belief that they hold more power and are better than others. They assume that absolute authority belongs solely to their agency.
"In order to approve any development project, it must go through a process involving all these ministries and agencies. It's true that each has its own function and role. However, this should not be an excuse for taking too long to process a project, to the point where it causes delays in the project's completion as planned. Ultimately, the expectations of stakeholders and customers are not met.
"For the private sector and our customers, time is money. Every delay, intentional or unintentional, becomes a cost burden that they must bear," he said at the Dewan De' Seri Endon in Putrajaya today.
Bureaucracy and a strong culture of working in silos is one of the three main challenges among civil servants. The other two are outdated service delivery methods and integrity issues.
Shamsul applauded the Kulai Fast Lane (KFL) initiative, which successfully reduced the processing time for industrial building physical development applications from 36 months to just 14.
This, he said, attracted new investments to Kulai amounting to RM40.7 billion and created over 7,000 new high-skilled job opportunities.
"Similarly, the initiative to expedite the Express Building Permit (E10) process for the construction and operation of factories at Kulim Hi-Tech Park under the supervision of the Kulim Municipal Council, Kedah, which managed to reduce the timeframe from 24 months to 10 months. This has significantly reduced costs, boosted investments, and increased the local council's revenue," he said.
He also commended the Director-General of Health for the successful improvements in reducing patient congestion at Shah Alam Hospital through its public-private partnership with Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang, and MSU Medical Centre.
Shamsul Azri, the former director-general of the Public Private Partnership Unit (UKAS), was appointed as the 16th Chief Secretary to the Government on Aug 12, succeeding Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, whose contract ended on Aug 10.