Time for civil service to shape up or ship out

OUR outspoken Prime Minister was spot-on when he stated quite plainly that the size of a ministry or a government department does not guarantee efficiency. Indeed, it can be too big to manage and incur higher expenditure without justification.

How often has the Government beefed up the police force, yet consumers, residents and shopkeepers seldom experience the presence of the police in many housing and commercial areas.

Unsatisfactory staff deployment and wastage of resources can be seen at the Immigration department, where three Immigration officers are stationed to hand out application forms when two of them could be working productively elsewhere.

Why are there huge crowds at the Immigration department?

It should have assigned more desk-bound officers to lend a hand, or engaged part-timers or junior workers to deal with form distribution.

Other government sections – from land offices and welfare centres to education departments and municipal councils – can be more productive and service-oriented if their workers pay heed to priorities and resolve problems related to public concerns.

Heads of departments ought to be hands-on in management and supervision.

The question of discipline arises when government servants disregard rules or take advantage of lax management.

The situation worsens when leaders do not set a good example.

There are many issues the Government has to address, issues such as punctuality, truancy, moonlighting, corporate governance and excessive public spending.

Budget over-runs are frequently reported, but no corrective or punitive measures are taken.

There is a lack of transparency and accountability, and serious faults are only discovered during the year-end audit.

Besides corruption and inefficiency, the Government has to look deeply into other problems besetting ministries

and government departments, including a breakdown in discipline, poor staff deployment and productivity, redundancy, and mismanagement.

It’s time the Government shows that it means business.

SODUSTA,
Subang Jaya.


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