NST Leader: Familiar story in AG's Report as billions lost without action

New Straits Times

3 days ago

HERE we go again. "Serious irregularities" and "weaknesses" in ministries and government entities are back as national bad news.
Our lawmakers must be outraged to hear such misuse of the public purse on the first day of the Dewan Rakyat session.
Whatever the year, the Auditor General's Report on government entities bleeding red ink remains very much the same story.
There have been years of lessons, yet none learnt. Neither has there been the will to hold errant officers to account.
For a nation that is in debt to the tune of RM1.28 trillion and trying hard to pay it off, that is heartbreaking.
Why no one has the will to put an end to such systemic failures in the public service has become an annual question.
Let's be clear. We are not counting pennies here. We are talking of hundreds of millions of ringgit.
Of the five audits conducted over the period of the 11th and 12th Malaysia Plans, the auditors found serious irregularities in three.
The first is Felcra Bhd's governance failure in four plantations involving a total of RM241.76 million from 2022 to 2024.
Don't fault us for asking: Aren't the top management and board members up to the task?
The second, an audit on Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's tender process, though involving a smaller sum — RM58.45 million — disclosed a mind-bending outcome.
There, the Tender Procurement Committee selected companies that were not recommended by the Technical Evaluation, Financial Evaluation and Pre-Tender Committees.
One overrides three? There can't be a clearer example of a violation of tender procedures. The culprits must not be spared.
The third audit relates to army vehicle contract mismanagement. There, RM162.75 million in penalties for late delivery of Gempita vehicle remains uncollected and RM1.42 million in penalties for service delays has yet to be enforced.
If that wasn't enough, RM107.54 million in service procurement was split into smaller packages, circumventing regulations.
The other two audits findings were related to subsidised cooking oil programme flaws under the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry and weaknesses in the government's pre-qualification procurement introduced by the Finance Ministry, bringing the total value of the five audits to RM48.873 billion.
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) attributes the systemic breakdowns to three causes: outdated procedures, weak financial oversight and a culture of impunity.
In our book, though, the culture of impunity is the root cause. Year after year leakages, wastages, irregularities and weaknesses have been highlighted by the Auditor General's Report, yet we hear little about the guilty being held accountable.
Quiet slap on the wrists won't do. The government being transparent doesn't mean merely making the audit reports public, it must also be transparent about accountability.
TI-M is right in calling on all implicated ministries and agencies to publicly disclose remedial actions within 30 days, covering recovery of funds, disciplinary measures and procedural reforms, to restore public trust.
The Auditor General's Reports mustn't just be treated as something to be read and filed away. It must be a call to action.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission must spring into action, if it hasn't already. Accountability is the best medicine against the cancer of impunity.