Anwar unhappy with implementation of small projects

PUTRAJAYA - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in voicing his dissatisfaction with the slow implementation of small projects such as the repair of dilapidated schools and health clinics, wants the process to be expedited.

He said the government, had in November last year, announced that all dilapidated schools and clinics should be repaired and the work to be completed this year.

However, implementation-wise, it is not satisfactory, especially at the level involving the district offices, he added.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the disbursement of funds for small projects should be expedited.

Schools without toilets or with leaking roofs cannot wait two years for the repair work, he said at an assembly with the staff of the Finance Ministry here today.

Anwar said he had discussed with Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi for the small projects to be excluded from the scope of duties of the Public Works Department (JKR), which is currently burdened with thousands of projects, and to be handed over to the relevant departments and ministries, especially at the district office level to speed up their implementation.

Anwar said a meeting regarding the delegation of power on the implementation of small projects to the district offices, to be attended by district officers from all states, will be held in Sungai Petani, Kedah, this Saturday (June 17).

The prime minister said even though the projects involved are small, their implementation should be expedited.

There shouldn't be any malpractices, such as fraud, stealing of money and taking of commissions, he added.

Meanwhile, Anwar said the culture of 'musyawarah' (deliberation) should be practiced among civil servants so that staff of the ministry, regardless of rank, are given the room and opportunity to provide information and give inputs in meetings, including post-Cabinet meetings.

He also wants all departments and agencies, beginning with those under the Finance Ministry, to submit their minutes of meetings to the Secretary-General of Treasury Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican, who will then forward them to him, to ensure good input from all staff. - BERNAMA