Affordable housing plan for civil servants

JOHOR BARU: Civil servants will soon get to enjoy the 1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing (PPA1M), based on the affordable housing scheme built on government land, priced at 20 to 30 per cent lower than the market rate.

"We will look for suitable government-owned lands in other towns, including Johor Baru, for the purpose," he said at a session with civil servants at Pusat Islam, here, yesterday.

The move to launch PPA1M was aimed at helping to overcome the burden of civil servants to buy houses in major towns.

"The prices of affordable houses offered will be in the range of RM150,000 to RM300,000, with built-up area of between 1,000 and 1,500 sq ft, as well as other basic facilities," said Ali.

He hoped it would lighten the burden of civil servants and also serve as an incentive for them to work harder.

On the fate of contract workers in the National Unity and Integration Department under the Rural and Regional Development and Information, Communications and Culture Ministries, totalling nearly 50,000 people, he said the government had agreed to extend their contracts to Dec 31 for another year.

A study will be carried out on their situation by a committee.

Yesterday's session was attended by Johor state secretary Datuk Obet Tawil and about 2,000 civil servants.

Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa said a pilot project with 10,000 units of houses would be built in Putrajaya and launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak soon.

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What's the best public sector size?

THE general election is over. At the hustings, the opposition had championed for a smaller government.

The government contends that its size at 1.4 million and with a ratio of one public employee to 20 citizens is an appropriate one. If anything, public-sector size should increase as the population expands.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has cranked again the flywheel of public sector reform with the merger of two education-related ministries. What does all this imply for the role and size of the public sector?

Public-sector size is a function of the role of the state. That role can span from statism, where the state has substantial dominance over the economy and society, to minarchism or minimal statism.

The statist centralised planning of the socialist system, largely prevalent in the now-extinct USSR and whose vestiges are evident in the socialist countries of Cuba and North Korea, requires the state to plan and execute in detail its socio-economic programmes. This will augur for an extended bureaucracy.

At the other extreme, the laissez-faire system requires the government to play a minimal role in the economy. Robert Norzick and the economic luminaries of the Austrian School of economic thought such as Schumpeter and Milton Friedman argue for a "night-watchman" role of the state in the economy. Such a role should, therefore, conduce to a leaner government.

An intermediate system is the mixed-enterprise system. Here, the state has a role in setting the economic direction and facilitating, through loose regulation, the economic growth of the country. This Anglo-Saxon model takes on many shades of statism.

In France and Italy, where state welfarism and state intervention keep the economy afloat, the Anglo-Saxon model takes on a more statist hue. Spain and Greece, that practise the Mediterranean version of the Anglo-Saxon model, target public spending on employment regulation and employee compensation.

As a consequence of such interventions, governments in those countries have become so lumbered with scary public debts and budget deficits that they have dragged the Eurozone into a quagmire.

An even more statist strain of the Anglo-Saxon model is the Nordic model of capitalism. Adopted in various degrees by Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, the Nordic model advocates extensive welfarism and redistribution of income through expansionary fiscal policy.

A more successful variant of the Anglo-Saxon model is the Rhineland model of social capitalism of Germany. The Rhinelandic approach advocates a supportive role of the state where required. It has been successful in increasing labour productivity amidst wage restraint. That approach has contributed to Germany being the strongest-performing economy in the EU.

China's authoritarian hold on the economy still persists. Notwithstanding, with continued economic liberalisation, China's state capitalism is getting closer to the Anglo-Saxon model.

Malaysia's New Economic Model (NEM) -- and past growth models -- represent the Anglo-Saxon model of a mixed-enterprise system bordering on statism. Together with the government's raison d'etre of improving citizen's access to health, nutrition, energy and education and its intolerance of income disparity, the NEM signals continued government involvement in the economy.

However, such state intervention will not compromise the position of the private sector as the engine of growth. This social capitalism is in line with John Rawls' proposition that public policy must aid the least advantaged in society.

The philosophical underpinnings of the NEM are anchored in norms of justice as they are in sound socio-economic principles and practice. It should, therefore, be the cornerstone of all government interventions in the economy.

That is why the assertion of a putative bloat in the government is rather misplaced. Such an assertion arises from a comparison that is perhaps wrongly made. That comparison is between the public-sector size of governments of a libertarian mould and that of Malaysia.

Malaysia's social capitalism of regulating the open economy to reduce inequalities that competitive markets inexorably create naturally bodes for a bigger government.

With annual emoluments at RM59 billion and comprising a quarter of public expenditure much has been done to check the expansion of the public sector.

Rigorous scrutiny and moratorium on posts creation, abolishment of posts left long vacant or redundant, restructuring for flatter structures and exit policies have eased the pressure on establishment expansion.

Streamlined business processes and e-government have also enabled the government to provide more services with the same or fewer resources.

Community participation in the provision of service delivery as, for example, community policing, has, in some measure, stemmed the pressure creating more jobs. The pooling of human capital and training facilities to fight crime by the police, army and prison authority is another instance of the judicious use of public resources.

More can be done to defuse criticism over the size of government. Some of its workforce concentrated in staff functions, especially at the central agencies, can be redeployed towards improving the delivery of critical public services such as health, education, transportation and security.

Sharing resources through strategic alliances across government can curb recruitment that would otherwise be utilised in a silo fashion.

Enlarging job specifications by merging related posts will not only reduce their numbers but also enhance the productivity and job satisfaction of public employees. Flexible schemes of service that offer human capital mobility across the cross-section of the public service will enlarge the talent pool within the public service. Service improvements thereby should assuage any protestation of a government bloat.

It is technically feasible to right-size the Leviathan. However, the task may not be an easy one. It will require a fundamental review of the role of government.

Prof Datuk Dr John Antony Xavier is with the Graduate School of Business of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

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Govt to study payment of Raya bonus

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government would study the payment of a bonus for civil servants in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

"We will look into it.

"There is still time," he said at a media conference at the special meeting room in his office, here, yesterday.

He had earlier witnessed the signing of an agreement between the North Corridor Implementation Authority and four companies that had agreed to invest RM1.96 billion in states in the Northern Corridor of Malaysia.

Najib spoke on the bonus when referring to the possibility that there would be good news for the 1.4 million civil servants following the request yesterday by Cuepacs, which said it was still hopeful the government would pay a half-month bonus to public servants although they would be receiving their annual increment this month.

The Cuepacs statement cropped up a day after Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said the government had yet to discuss the bonus, and the announcement on the annual salary increment twice this year could be considered as a bonus. 

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Live within your means, says Omar

KUALA LUMPUR: Cuepacs president Datuk Omar Osman said there is no denying that there are civil servants caught up in debt.

However, most of them still had some take-home pay left at the end of the month.

"There has never been any disciplinary action taken on those involved in such cases.

"It's only a small percentage of government servants who are involved."

He said the main reason for their debts was excessive expenditure on cars, handphones and housing loans.

"If the husband and wife both work, then it's still okay, but if only one of them work, they will find difficulty making ends meet, especially if they have children," he said, adding that this mostly affected those earning below RM3,000 per month.

Omar said some civil servants got into debt because of unexpected expenses which they could not deal with because they had little or no savings.

"For example, they may have a child entering university.

"They don't need much -- most of the loans are below RM5,000. Maybe between RM2,000 and RM3,000."

Omar said civil servants were ideal targets for lenders because they had a fixed income from the government.

He said one proposal was to allow those earning RM3,000 and below to take vehicle loans, which they are currently not entitled to.

He said the General Office Workers Union (Persatuan Pekerja Am Pejabat) had suggested giving government loans of RM10,000 and below for those in this category.

"This will stop them from seeking loans from other sources."

Omar said in the current climate of materialism and a consumer culture, people wanted things quickly.

"There are those who buy beyond their means. While they can only afford a Kancil, they might buy a Perdana."

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Ministries, govt agencies to set up integrity units Read more: Ministries, govt agencies to set up integrity units

KUALA LUMPUR: INTEGRITY units will  be set up in all ministries, government departments and agencies  to combat corruption in the public sector.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa revealed to the New Sunday Times that a circular to direct the implementation of the units had been prepared and was in the final stages of processing before being enforced.

Once completed, it would allow for the establishment of integrity units in all ministerial and governmental departments at the federal and state levels.

The anti-corruption effort followed the implementation of a pilot project last year in which such integrity units were initiated in five enforcement agencies regarded as the most high risk.

They agencies were: Immigration, Road Transport and Customs departments; police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

However, it had been decided that the police and MACC would not be getting their integrity units for now; instead, they will keep their compliance entities.

"So far, the Immigration Department has set up its integrity unit. Once (the circular) is enforced, the set-up of these units will be implemented in phases, with priorities given to high-risk agencies," said Ali.

He added although the establishment of these integrity units had yet to be formally enforced, several governmental agencies had already integrated the integrity aspect into their management practices.

"Apart from loaning officers from MACC, there are also a few agencies with their own designated certified integrity officers (CeIO) to manage the integrity management aspect in their respective organisations.

"These officers have undertaken the CeIO course at the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy."

In December 2011, National Key Result Areas corruption monitoring and coordination division director Datuk Hisham Nordin had announced that MACC would be sending its officers to form integrity units in all government agencies, in a pilot initiative to achieve a cleaner, more transparent as well as corrupt-free government.

He had said that these officers would be the ears and eyes of the commission, and would report directly to his division as well as their respective heads of management.

In the latest survey by Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) last week, it was found that among the 1,000 people it interviewed between September last year and March, only 31 per cent believed that the government's efforts in fighting bribery had been effective, a significant drop from the 49 per cent recorded in 2011.

Those who believed that the efforts had been neither effective nor ineffective grew from 27 per cent to 44 per cent.

Also, from the 1,000 people polled, three per cent admitted they had paid bribes, compared with 1.2 per cent in 2011.

TI-M president Datuk Akhbar Satar, however, pointed out that the number was still lower than the ones recorded in Indonesia (36 per cent), Thailand (18) and the Philippines (12).

The global average figure stands at 27 per cent.

NST ONLINE

Cuepacs proposes homes below RM250,000 for civil servants

SHAH ALAM: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has urged the federal and state governments to provide medium-cost houses, priced RM250,000 or below, to civil servants.

Its president, Datuk Omar Osman, said about 45 per cent of 1.4 million civil servants were still unable to afford homes due to price factors.

"This 45 per cent are still renting houses for between RM800 and RM1,500 monthly, although they have worked for five years. How much longer will they live like this?

"We want the medium-cost houses to be provided immediately to allow civil servants to live comfortably in their own homes," he told reporters after officiating the Union of Teachers in the Malaysian Education Service (Kongres) annual general meeting here today.

Omar said the move to provide affordable homes for civil servants earning below RM7,000 would indirectly improve their productivity and performance.

Citing Putrajaya as an example, he said the majority of civil servants in the administrative centre did not own homes but stayed in government quarters.

Omar also suggested that the National Housing Department be responsible for providing the houses, instead of developers.

He said Cuepacs was ready to give its views and cooperate with the state and federal governments to resolve the issue.

Commenting on bonus, Omar said he hoped the government would consider the two half-month bonus for civil servants as proposed by Cuepacs previously.

"We've brought the proposal to the government and received feedback from the chief secretary to the government. He said it was up to the prime minister to decide.

"We hope civil servants will at least receive half-month bonus before Hari Raya Aidilfitri and the remainder will be annouced by the prime minister in the 2014 Budget in October," he said. -- BERNAMA

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Berita@INTURA Jun 2013

GTP 2.0 testament of govt's effort to address efficiency of civil servants

KUALA LUMPUR: The implementation of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) 2.0 is a testament that the government is serious in addressing the efficiency of the civil service, including corruption.

Auditor General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said the government was focused on fighting corruption but it cannot be successful without the cooperation of parties involved, including private sectors dealing with government agencies.

He said government servants are now more aware of the expectation to give better service and delivery, derived from the GTP implementation.

"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib  Razak himself has given recommendation on how to improvise the civil service by suggesting fast, accurate and integrity approach and practicing the culture of creativity and innovation.

"These are challenges to all civil servants to improve their performance," he told Bernama after a luncheon talk organised by Business Ethics Institute of Malaysia here today.

Ambrin said the implementation of GTP 2.0 was a continuation of GTP after the government was satisfied with its outcome.

However, he said the civil service improvisation effort might take some time to bear fruition and he called on all parties to support the government's initiatives. -- BERNAMA

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Ganjaran Pemberi Maklumat Rasuah Hanya Untuk Penjawat Awam - SPRM Kedah

ALOR SETAR, - Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) hari ini menjelaskan ganjaran kerana memberi maklumat mengenai penawaran, pemberian atau penerimaan rasuah hanya diberikan kepada penjawat awam. "Pengiktirafan itu diberi kepada mana-mana penjawat awam yang melaporkan mengenai penawaran atau pemberian rasuah untuk meningkatkan, menggalakkan dan sebagai motivasi kepada mereka mengikut garis panduan yang dikeluarkan Ketua Setiausaha Negara berkuatkuasa 1 Jun 2011," demikian menurut kenyataan SPRM Kedah kepada Bernama berhubung laporan akhbar mengenai perkara itu Khamis lepas.

Menurut kenyataan itu pengiktirafan itu hanya diguna pakai untuk penjawat awam sahaja dan peruntukan kepada orang awam tidak termasuk dalam garis panduan ini.

Bagaimanapun, kenyataan itu tidak menyatakan ganjaran untuk orang awam yang melapor atau memberi maklumat mengenai rasuah kepada agensi itu.

Sebelum ini, media melaporkan kenyataan Ketua Penolong Pengarah (Siasatan) SPRM Kedah Yusof Shamsudin bahawa pemberian ganjaran kepada pemberi maklumat menggalakkan orang ramai dan penjawat awam tampil menyalurkan maklumat kepada SPRM.

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Public encouraged to actively communicate with govt agencies via online mediums

PUTRAJAYA: The public are encouraged to actively communicate with the government agencies through the various online mediums, said the Public Service Department (PSD) director general Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal.

Speaking at the launch of the National Digital Conference 2013 event today, Mohamad Zabidi said the role of Internet was vital in creating a better government service performance to allow smooth interaction with the public and the agencies.

He said several initiatives had been carried out such as the Public Sector Data Centre (PDSA), Integrated Government Network (1GovNet) , Government Cloud (1GovCloud), Government Unified Communication (1GovUC), Service Intelligence, digital Document Management System (DDMS) and myGovMobile.

"These initiatives have allowed the agencies to get the best services through the central sharing or resources and information.

"The services available have traits such as pay-per-use for PDSA services, bandwidth on demand for network services, shared application systems like MyMesyuarat and DDMS in 1GovCloud," he said.

 He said collaboration between the private and the public sector had also enhanced the central data services for the agencies.

Mohamad Zabidi added the Digital Malaysia (DM) initiative was also part of the government's efforts to spur more technology users  among the public.

"We are currently having an information overload due to excessive data that might not be fully accurate. Therefore, we must play a role in gathering and giving out reliable and updated sources to ensure that the people's unity would remain intact," he said.

He also launched the Public Sector E-Learning (EPSA) 2.0 programme, an updated version of the online portal that allowed government employees to access online courses.

NST ONLINE

Projek Latihan Julai 2013