PM: Make things simple

Nice to meet you: Anwar greeting Rehda national council members during its 50th anniversary dinner at One World Hotel, Petaling Jaya. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: More can be done to end endemic corruption and the sluggish pace of growth of the country, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said easing government processes, making them more transparent and efficient were among the changes he was pursuing.

“I have talked with some of the Mentris Besar on the need to change obsolete processes in the government and to simplify them.

“Why is it so difficult to get business done; we must stop this nonsense.

“From the pace of doing business to the pace of approval – we must make them more transparent and fast.

“This would also make it easier to closely monitor and make any changes necessary,” he said during his speech at the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia’s (Rehda) 50th anniversary dinner yesterday.

On tackling corruption, Anwar said he would be looking into making company names anonymous during the final tender selection process.

“Today, we tested a new method in which we labelled the companies bidding for the tender under the name company A, B and C.

“We then decided the most suitable company based purely on their capabilities and track record,” he said, adding that this would make the tender process more transparent and fair.

On the lack of foreign workers affecting growth, Anwar said agencies with a bad track record of delays and failure in bringing in foreign labour should be punished.

“They should be penalised and maybe even forced to close if the fault lies with them.

“The delay in foreign labour is a serious issue because it affects the growth of the country as businesses are unable to perform,” he said.

He added that these suggestions were a consistent part of his Malaysia Madani concept in which he wanted to rid the use of race and religion in politics.

“There have been groups of people who used tactics to get into public office, who then enriched themselves at the behest of the public.

“We must show no compromise on the need to rid this country of endemic corruption and the use of race and religion to push their own personal agendas,” he said.

Also present at the dinner was Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming and Rehda president Datuk NK Tong.