Functional overlaps in ministries lead to resource waste, warns expert

SHAH ALAM - The Malaysian government is taking steps to address the issue of overlapping functions among government entities.

While the exact number of overlapping entities remains unclear, estimates suggest that more than 20 entities across various ministries are affected.

Among these 20 entities, the Strategic Education at the Academy of Democracy and Citizenship Education Malaysia director Hanif Ahmad identified five statutory bodies and government-linked companies (GLCs) with dominant functional overlaps.

"Almost every ministry has entities that experience role and function overlap, either among entities within the same ministry or involving entities from other ministries (cross-ministry).

"For example, Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (GLC) and the Malaysian Highway Authority (a statutory body) may be involved in infrastructure projects, leading to potential overlaps in the planning and implementation of transportation projects.

"The Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) and the Road Transport Department (RTD) are other examples where functional overlaps exist, which eventually lead to restructuring," he said.

He added that the Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) and the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (Tekun) also had similar roles in providing financing and support to Bumiputera entrepreneurs.

"Mara is a statutory body more focused on education, entrepreneurship, and professional development, while Tekun, which also receives government support, provides micro-financing to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.

"There is an overlap in the financing and entrepreneurial support functions between these two entities," he said.

Waste of national funds

Hanif, who is also a Research Executive at the Institute Darul Ehsan, said that most of these overlaps occurred in terms of functions, where these entities carried out similar or redundant roles, leading to a waste of resources and national finances.

"For example, there are several entities involved in economic development, but they may have different approaches or regulate the same aspects.

"This leads to inefficiency and waste of resources, ultimately contributing to slow progress in development or policy implementation," he added.

On Sept 3, the government established the secretariat for the Rationalisation of Federal Statutory Bodies to address the issue of functional overlap and savings of national funds.

The secretariat was established following claims of excessive overlaps involving statutory bodies and GLCs, which had led to financial overreach and uncontrolled spending.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the secretariat would act immediately as part of the government's efforts to reform the public service.

Commenting on the process of function separation, which would be handled by the secretariat for the Rationalisation of Federal Statutory Bodies, Hanif emphasised that it must involve independent survey bodies and stakeholders with high competence to provide thorough findings for review.

"The separation of functions involves several key steps, such as initial assessments and studies, efficiency analysis, consultation with stakeholders, implementation of changes, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

"It may take a long period to ensure all overlapping functions are effectively separated without affecting government operations.

"Some of the main factors influencing this duration include the diversity and complexity of the entities involved and the overlapping functions, the availability of data and information needed for analysis, and the scale of organisational changes," he said.

Meanwhile, Hanif suggested that security and border management entities should be prioritised in this separation process to ensure their functions operated efficiently.