Khamis, 3 Oktober 2013

Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim

Cops’ MISSING GUNS the mystery source of supply to the triads, gangsters?

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 11:55 PM PDT

Malaysia-Chronicle

The 2012 Augitor-General’s report showed that at least RM1.3 million in assets, including firearms, vehicles and handcuffs were lost by the Malaysian police over the past three years.

The report, which highlighted many instances of wastage, was presented to Parliament on Tuesday.

The news especially as regards the ‘missing’ firearms can be expected to anger and even alarm Malaysians, who have been frightened by a spate of violent crimes and shootings.

It is telling that the Auditor’s report did not state exactly what sort of firearms were involved but guns are the obvious inference. Some even warn that it could include high-performance machine guns and not just hand revolvers.

“We have been asking where did the gangsters get their guns? The Inspector General of Police and the Home Minister have even put up draconian amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act because they say they need to be able to detain people without trial in order to combat crime. They also launched Ops Cantas which I understand has rounded up more than 10,000 bad hats. Now it is laughable that the guns missing from the police armory may have fallen into wrong hands,” MP for Wangsa Maju Tan Kee Kwong told Malaysia Chronicle.

“The police must not only explain to the public but also tighten up their operations. Where are the checks and balances? The armory must surely have a log of details. Why wasn’t there discipline in maintaining what went in and out? How can we have guns disappearing without a trace? It is clear the police have been lax and they must close up the loopholes.”

Poor internal system of detection

The missing ‘firearms’ formed 14.2% of the total RM1.33 million losses recorded during the period 2010 to 2012. Handcuffs formed the largest portion of missing items at 50.5%.

In his report, the Auditor-General also noted delays in the discovery of the missing assets as well as in the reporting of the losses to the department head, and in preparing an initial report on the missing assets.

The report also stated that there were still many missing cases in 2010 and 2011 that had yet to be solved, as well as surcharges that have yet to be collected.

“Besides that, records in Bukit Aman and state police contingent headquarters containing information on missing assets and the status of investigations need to be coordinated,” it added.

Customs also slip-shod

Malaysia’s Customs Department was also not spared. The Auditor General found that RM602,089 worth of shoes bought for its staff were destroyed because of wrong specification.

Customs department destroyed the 7,659 pairs of new footwear purchased in 2009 for staff after finding that the quality of the shoes and boots had degraded after being kept in its store for three years.

The report said the sizes also did not meet the needs of the officers.

Sample tests conducted by the Science Technology Research Institute of Defence found that the soles of the shoes had turned brittle and split, said the Auditor-General.

According to the report, the goods were part of the department’s uniform distributed to its staff with each person allocated two pairs of shoes before the end of April every year.

Obama CANCELS trip to KL: ‘US in a mess, M’sia in a BIGGER mess’

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 11:51 PM PDT

Malaysia-Chronicle

In a move that is bound to disappoint many Malaysians who had hoped to catch a glimpse of him, US president Barack Obama has cancelled his trip to Kuala Lumpur next week.

According to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib, he received a call from Obama early this morning and was told the bad news.

The US president offered his regrets and promised to make the visit on a later date, revealed Najib.

The Malaysian PM also told reporters that Obama had cited his wish to remain in the US to tackle the partial shutdown of the US government after hitting a constitutional debt ceiling.

Speaking to reporters at an event in Sepang, Najib said US secretary of State John Kerry will still be coming to Kuala Lumpur next week. Obama was initially scheduled to address the Fourth Global Entrepreneurship Summit on October 11 here.

While generally viewed in this region as a positive influence and as reformist, Obama has also drawn some flak from some Malaysians, who feared his visit was to influence Najib into signing the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement later next year.

The global free trade agreement would require Malaysia to open key economic sectors, a move that has been resisted by many in the country including Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and former premier Mahathir Mohamad, mainly because the terms and conditions for which are shrouded in secrecy and can only be made known 4 years after the agreement has been signed.

But pushing the TPPA to the sidelines is the brewing storm over the US debt, the biggest in the world.

“The US is in a mess, we are in a bigger mess. This is a good wake-up call to Najib that there is no free lunch. Whatever is spent must be paid and when you keep borrowing, one day your lenders will sit up and say, ‘sorry  no more, limit is up’,” Opposition MP for Wangsa Maju Tan Kee Jwong told Malaysia Chronicle.

“At least, US is a world leader in many integral fields like technology, finance, banking, the sciences. Many experts say it cannot be allowed to go bankrupt even though it may already be technically so. Somehow the rest of the world will have to adjust for the US because it contributes so much to the world economy.

“But not Malaysia, I am afraid. For us, the lenders will not be forgiving at all. We have to be responsible for our debt and this is something that Najib and his Umno-BN coalition don’t seem to get. Maybe Najib imagines himself to be the Obama of the East but wait and see what happens if he doesn’t cut out the wastage and excesses. Already Fitch has put Malaysia on negative outlook. If there are no reforms, the others will follow.”

 

Get Muhyiddin, Anwar and AG to investigate wrongdoings in report, says opposition

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 11:50 PM PDT

TMI

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will not do justice investigating the Auditor-General’s Report the opposition said today and suggested that a high-powered, three-man panel be set up to take on the task instead.

This panel, they said, can investigate and act against those found to have misused taxpayers' money.

“The panel must be made up of Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Auditor-General himself,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.

He added that the three men named are powerful enough to do the job.

“At the end of the day, PAC is controlled by the government given the 9:5 ratio. What type of enforcement can we expect in the wake of too many cases of misappropriation of government funds?” asked Lim, who is also DAP’s Bagan MP.

“We are offering a genuine suggestion and we are not always out to criticise,” Lim told a press conference at Parliament.

He added that the PAC is only responsible for compiling investigation reports and is therefore seemingly useless.

He was accompanied by PAS vice-president and Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar, Kulai MP and DAP assistant national publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching and PKR deputy president and Gombak MP Mohamed Azmin Ali.

In an immediate response, PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said it was unfair of the Opposition to describe the committee as “useless” and “irrelevant”.

“The Auditor-General’s report was only made public yesterday and the committee members are still going through it before deciding on the next course of action,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

“They are not being fair to PAC. We are still in the midst of reading the report and one cannot expect a response this fast.”

He added that the next course of action would take a long time as further inquiries needed to be carried out.

“We have to be fair to those involved… in Penang itself, there are still many unresolved issues,” he added, in a reference to the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled state.

The Auditor-General’s Report, a tale of greed from top to bottom

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 09:22 PM PDT

TMI

One really troubling fact about the Auditor-General’s Report released yesterday is that the poison of corruption, wastage and negligence has seeped right down to the lowest levels of government.

Not only have Malaysians got to be worried about corrupt politicians but also civil servants from the top to the bottom. How else do you explain nearly RM200 million being spent on incinerators without the know-how to operate the technology or RM3,000 on wall clocks or custom-made shoes left to rot because they did not meet the specifications?

Money is being spent and wasted like water. And the disease has infected every ministry, government-linked company and institution across the nation. Perhaps it was inevitable given that civil servants have witnessed politicians milking the system for decades and getting away with it.

So why not also jump on the gravy train? After all it is public funds, and it belongs to them to waste it as they see fit. Even more troubling is that no heads have rolled over the years for such sheer wastage and corruption. When was the last time anyone took responsibility for purchasing expensive printers, inks, shoes, clocks and scanners?

Which minister or secretary-general or director-general or even chief clerk has admitted they slipped up and quit to take responsibility for such negligence. Is there any concern that policemen can lose guns or even police cars without anyone having their knuckles rapped for it? Or that money is still being paid out to dead people? One can suppose these dead people are still on the electoral roll.

Is there any shame that clocks are bought for such a hefty price? Or that money is spent despite work not done? The quick answer is no. If a government servant can claim RM300,000 for a four-day trip to study the 999 system, and no one bats an eyelid, what more the millions that are wasted in the name of the people?

The Auditor-General’s Report is now just another book trotted out annually for the government to lament and promise to do better and for the people to anguish over the sheer audacity of such extravagance. The ruling government can claim to do its best and set up more panels to look into the waste or ask the Public Accounts Committee to analyse the Auditor-General’s Report but if nothing is done, the trust deficit gets wider.

It is no use to assuage the people with BR1M cash aids or affordable housing if that comes with closing an eye on the corruption and wastage in Putrajaya and every government department or public agency or state firm. The cancer of corruption is very deep that it has become institutionalised and all we can do is read about the sheer pillage by those who say they work for the people of Malaysia.

The question to ask is simple. Are there any honest people left in the government or civil service that will do anything about the Auditor-General’s Report?
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