Civil servants will play their part to ensure policies under 12MP are carried out, says Cuepacs

PUTRAJAYA: Civil servants are committed to ensuring plans and policies outlined under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) take off so that the people will benefit from programmes drawn up by the government.

“Like the success behind the implementation of previous Malaysia Plans, the civil servants are the backbone behind the success of every policy introduced by the government.

“We will play our part to ensure this Plan will achieve what has been planned and promised to the people,” said Cuepacs president Adnan Mat.

He said Cuepacs welcomed the government's initiatives planned under 12MP, including to introduce the Public Service Act, which will clearly spell out powers and responsibilities of members of the administration and civil servants.

“The separation of powers and duties actually exists, but more often than not, it is misunderstood as there is no firmness in executing the regulations. This new Act is timely and should be supported to ensure transparency and integrity in the public service governance,” he said.

On plans for a Governance Index, Adnan said this initiative would ensure effective execution of government plans and policies.

On leakages and power abuse, he said while Cuepacs does not deny the existence of “bad hats” among civil servants, it is wrong to perceive that the entire service is tainted “as if it is a cancer beyond cure”.

“The percentage of those committing such crimes is 2% of the entire 1.6 million civil service.

“If we continue to blame the receiver (of corruption) and not much action is taken on the giver, it will only demotivate the rest of the public officers who carry out their work with integrity and honesty,” he said.

Adnan said that Cuepacs also lauded the government’s goal to raise the average household income to RM10,000 per month by 2025.

He said a Malaysian Remuneration System (SSM) should be formulated, taking into account the current economic climate, pointing out that the current system had been in place for the past 19 years.

The existing system that had been in place since 2002 had not been studied or improved until today, he added.