PUTRAJAYA: Department heads must review proposals in the Auditor-General’s Report, even those that do not concern their respective areas, for the sake of improving governance.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also wants discussions and reviews on each report to be minuted and given to the Chief Secretary to the Government.
“We want departments to review the Auditor-General’s Report in total and not just the (parts) involving them.
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“This way, they can take note of the issues and suggestions to avoid making the same mistakes,” he said at the Prime Minister’s Department monthly gathering here on Monday (Nov 6).
Anwar said he wanted this to be the practice from now because some issues had been recurring for years.
He added that it was important to improve governance and policies as well as to stop leakages as it costs the government billions.
Some of the leakages were also caused by targeted subsidies not reaching the intended groups, he said.
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He pointed out that by withdrawing the electricity subsidy for the wealthy top 10%, the government saved RM4bil.
“By allowing chicken prices to float, the government need not fork out RM100mil a month in subsidy which is also enjoyed by the 3.5 million foreigners here,” he said.
He noted that since the price of chicken was floated on Nov 1, it remained below the ceiling price of RM9.40 per kg.