What Do Our Politicians Have To Say About The Shocking AG Report?
The Auditor General's Report 2012 has shocked Malaysians when it revealed that hundred of millions of ringgit has been lost, mismanaged and wasted by several government bodies. This is what Malaysian politicians have to say about the report.
In the Auditor General's 2012 report, hundreds of millions of RM was found lost, mismanaged and wasted. This is the full report:
Khairy Jamaluddin Says They Spent RM1.6mil On K-Pop Artists To Attract Chinese Youths
The RM1.6 million K-Pop concert last year was to attract Chinese youths to attend the National Youth Day celebrations organised by Putrajaya, according to Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
themalaysianinsider.comKhairy said in 2010 and 2011, the government found it difficult to attract young people, especially the Chinese, to the event.
"We had to think of ways to attract more Chinese and one of the suggestions was to have K-Pop concert, which clearly has a huge following among the community. "And when we held the K-Pop concert last year, we could see lots of Chinese youths in attendance,"
"Because of the shortfall, we had to pay for a few programmes and the K-Pop concert was one of them," he added.
Khairy said the celebration was deemed a success as it attracted 2.4 million youths and contributed to the local economy.
yahoo.comKhairy today meanwhile reaffirmed that the ministry did pay for the concert.
He pointed out that while the entire youth day celebrations were sponsored by domestic and foreign entities, the amount was not enough, forcing the ministry to fork out the balance.
themalaysianinsider.comKhairy however said his ministry would no longer bring in K-Pop groups for this year's celebrations.
themalaysianinsider.comDr Mahathir says ministers who fail "should just resign"
“I think we need to give the Auditor General more powers... if the mistakes are not corrected then we should punish or they should resign,” the former prime minister said today.
themalaysianinsider.comHe said there should be a follow-up to determine if the excesses highlighted by the Auditor General are addressed. ”You need to also constantly hold a whip behind them to make sure that they do their work,” Dr Mahathir told reporters.
msn.comAs for the ministers who have been thrust under the spotlight because of inefficiencies and lack of accountability in their ministries, Dr Mahathir said that "those who cannot do the job should just resign”.
themalaysianinsider.com“You know in Japan, when a plane crashes at an airfield, the transport minister has to resign. (But) in Malaysia, (the minister will say) that’s not my business. I hope to see more resignations."
msn.com“I resigned because I failed,” he said in jest about his 22-year leadership of the country.
themalaysianinsider.comMACC opens 15 investigation papers based on the Auditor-General's Report 2013
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has opened 15 investigation papers so far based on the Auditor-General’s Report 2012 which was presented in Parliament five days ago.
yahoo.comMACC investigation director Datuk Mustafar Ali said the investigations were being carried out under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009. "MACC has formed a special team along with the National Audit Department to take follow-up action."
themalaymailonline.com“The MACC, which is leading this team, will present the findings, action plan and recommendations to take action against those who have committed bribery, misappropriation, abuse of power and forgery,” he said.
thestar.com.myMustafar said the MACC viewed the discrepancies highlighted in the audit report and it would recommend that the relevant departments or agencies initiate disciplinary measures against those who have been negligent or careless in their line of work.
msn.com“MACC takes seriously the weaknesses and leaks presented in the previous A-G’s reports and the A-G’s Report 2012. “It is the duty and responsibility of MACC to investigate graft cases, abuse of power and misappropriation including those brought up in the report.”
themalaymailonline.comVIDEO: Zahid Hamidi says he doesn't trust Malaysiakini at all and personally warns journalist at the end
On PDRM's claims that RM1.33 million worth of missing guns are lost in the sea, Zahid Hamidi says:
Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today defended the integrity of the police force, saying that the weapons lost by the police were due to human error and not foul play.
malaysiakini.com"I know the loss was not due to a breach of trust, deviant acts or elements of bribery," Zahid told reporters. "It is because of carelessness and mistakes made in the line of duty."
malaysiakini.comHe said he hoped next year's audit would not contain such reports of weapons lost, as he does not want the "image of the police to be scarred by the auditor-general's report".
malaysiakini.comZahid then ended his statement by warning Malaysiakini to report exactly as he said, without any "spin". He then forbid anymore discussion on the matter and said "no more" queries from Malaysiakini.
malaysiakini.comOn the Auditor General's 2012 report, Transparency International Malaysia says:
TI-M urge the government to look into the attitude of the “dead wood” within the civil services. Without serious efforts to take to task the errant civil servants, the country will continue to suffer from more losses every year. It will also make a mockery of the government.
themalaysianreserve.comThe government should emulate the private sectors, where productivity and compliance are important to safeguard one’s job. TI-M feels that the civil service in Malaysia is currently a “fattened calf” that needs to be trimmed down, especially when the economic times are tough.
themalaysianreserve.comTransparency International Malaysia (TI-M) strongly urge the government to stem out corrective action to be taken to address the findings in the Auditor General (AG) Report 2012. Every year, it can only be a different set of examples highlighted by the AG’s report, but the same non-compliance pattern continues to attract media and public attention. Year in, year out!
themalaysianreserve.comOn the RM100million to maintain the Prime Minister's jets, Minister Shahidan Kassim says:
Shahidan Kassim: Perbelanjaan Jet Peribadi Untuk Kepentingan Negara, Tak Perlu Persoal
terbakor.comThe issue of excessive spending to maintain the Prime Minister’s jets does not arise because they are not exclusively used by the Prime Minister.
freemalaysiatoday.comMinister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim said Malaysia has seven executive jets for official use by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, to carry out official businesses of the nation.
freemalaysiatoday.com“Maintenance is carried out by companies which had been determined. It will be dangerous if we do not maintain them as it involves the safety of national leaders. The cost is also based on the price established by the companies carrying out the maintenance work."
blogspot.comThe expenditure involved scheduled routine maintenance following regulations stipulated by the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation, he said. Shahidan also said the Prime Minister would take longer to reach a destination using a normal flight as compared to using an executive jet.
blogspot.comAnwar asks why Najib has not given any reassurance that this mismanagement of funds will not happen again?
To the Opposition Leader, the A-G’s latest report had shown that financial mismanagement under the Najib administration had only worsened last year, resulting in more billions lost.
yahoo.comHe said the BN government has neither given any guarantee that it will act on the findings of the report, nor has Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak given his assurance that there will be no recurrence of such discrepancies in managing taxpayers money in the future.
themalaymailonline.com“We want to know why is it worsening. The ministers should be held responsible as the discrepancies are happening right before them.
themalaymailonline.com“We don’t want the government to just tell us ‘yes we are investigating. Where is the guarantee by the PM that this will not happen again?” Anwar charged.
yahoo.com“This shows greediness of our leaders in plundering and squandering the nation’s wealth,” he added.
themalaymailonline.comOn PDRM's RM1.33 million worth of missing guns, IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar says:
Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today that the missing guns highlighted in the just-released federal audit had not fallen into the wrong hands but could have “fallen into the sea”, as he deflected criticisms against the police force for lacking accountability.
themalaymailonline.com"The missing guns may not have fallen into the hands of criminals but could have fallen into the sea from boats... and the weapons could not be recovered."
malaysiakini.comBut Khalid denied the accusation today, reiterating that the guns have not fallen into the wrong hands. "Ballistic reports show that none of the missing guns have been used by criminals," he insisted.
themalaysianinsider.comHe said each firearm carried an identification code and so far police have not come across any report of the missing weapons being used in any crime.
themalaysianinsider.comHome Minister Zahid Hamid echoes the IGP's defence, he says:
Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has stood by his police chief who had earlier contended that the 44 guns which had gone missing could have have fallen into the sea.
yahoo.com"Yes, it could have... during operations," Ahmad Zahid told reporters at the Parliament lobby today. The equipment included 44 firearms and 29 vehicles.
msn.comOn Youth and Sport's Ministry spending RM1.6 million on a K-pop show, Khairy Jamaluddin says:
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said his ministry was forced to pay for the K-pop concert held during the Youth Day celebration last year after the initial sponsors backed off.
themalaysianinsider.com"The earlier statement that the concert was sponsored by a private party was made as at that time, there was an offer from them to pay for the concert," Khairy explained in a posting on his official Facebook page today.
themalaysianinsider.comHe said the sponsorship plan, however, did not materialise, resulting in the ministry having to make the payment.
msn.comThere will be no more K-Pop groups performing at the National Youth Day celebrations starting from this year, said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
thestar.com.myOn taking accoutability of his ministry's expenditure, Khairy Jamaluddin says:
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin assured that no stones would be left unturned against those found responsible for misusing tax payers money although it happened during the tenure of his predecessor.
freemalaysiatoday.com“What is certain is that we in the Ministry of Youth and Sports will take the necessary steps to ensure no wastage of funds because the government’s funds are the peoples’ money.
“We must be accountable for every sen that we spend,” he said.
"I view what was revealed by the Auditor General's report seriously. If we are serious about carrying out transformation in a transparent manner, the report cannot be taken lightly. The people do not want to see leaders in the government keeping mum over the report," he said.
malaysia-today.netKhairy said collective responsibility was a meaningful practice for him and said "I must answer and act if there is any wrong doing in my ministry. I cannot run away from the responsibility vested on me," he said.
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