PUTRAJAYA: The one-week ultimatum given to leaders of enforcement agencies to decide whether to tackle leakages or step down from their positions underscores the government’s commitment to strengthening governance.
Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s firm approach would be highlighted at the Special Task Force on Agency Reform meeting he would be chairing this afternoon.
“As announced in the prime minister’s address on Jan 5, this year is for swift action. We must ensure compliance with governance standards and strengthen administration.
“This year, we will intensify enforcement and combat corruption, abuse of power, and non-compliance with regulations,” he told reporters.
Shamsul Azri was responding to Anwar‘s stern warning to senior enforcement officials, giving them a week to confirm whether they were prepared to shoulder their responsibilities or be reassigned to lower positions.
Anwar stressed that those unable to act decisively against wrongdoing should make way for others, citing long-standing issues within enforcement agencies.
He said that he had reached a point of losing patience and believes gaps and weaknesses must be addressed to safeguard the country.
When asked if any top enforcement officers were expected to step down for failing to meet the government’s expectations, Shamsul Azri said: “We will see. We are very serious now. The one-week timeframe was set to expedite action; otherwise, we could have allowed a month.”
On Jan 26, Anwar expressed confidence that the government could recover more misappropriated and leaked public funds beyond the RM15.5 billion collected over the past two years, stressing that the sum recovered so far did not reflect the full extent of losses from leakages, fraud, and systemic weaknesses.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
