The Auditor-General’s Report, a tale of greed from top to bottom

One really troubling fact about the Auditor-General's Report released yesterday is that the poison of corruption, wastage and negligence has seeped right down to the lowest levels of government.

Not only have Malaysians got to be worried about corrupt politicians but also civil servants from the top to the bottom. How else do you explain nearly RM200 million being spent on incinerators without the know-how to operate the technology or RM3,000 on wall clocks or custom-made shoes left to rot because they did not meet the specifications?

Money is being spent and wasted like water. And the disease has infected every ministry, government-linked company and institution across the nation. Perhaps it was inevitable given that civil servants have witnessed politicians milking the system for decades and getting away with it.

So why not also jump on the gravy train? After all it is public funds, and it belongs to them to waste it as they see fit. Even more troubling is that no heads have rolled over the years for such sheer wastage and corruption. When was the last time anyone took responsibility for purchasing expensive printers, inks, shoes, clocks and scanners?

Which minister or secretary-general or director-general or even chief clerk has admitted they slipped up and quit to take responsibility for such negligence. Is there any concern that policemen can lose guns or even police cars without anyone having their knuckles rapped for it? Or that money is still being paid out to dead people? One can suppose these dead people are still on the electoral roll.

Is there any shame that clocks are bought for such a hefty price? Or that money is spent despite work not done? The quick answer is no. If a government servant can claim RM300,000 for a four-day trip to study the 999 system, and no one bats an eyelid, what more the millions that are wasted in the name of the people?

The Auditor-General's Report is now just another book trotted out annually for the government to lament and promise to do better and for the people to anguish over the sheer audacity of such extravagance. The ruling government can claim to do its best and set up more panels to look into the waste or ask the Public Accounts Committee to analyse the Auditor-General's Report but if nothing is done, the trust deficit gets wider.

It is no use to assuage the people with BR1M cash aids or affordable housing if that comes with closing an eye on the corruption and wastage in Putrajaya and every government department or public agency or state firm. The cancer of corruption is very deep that it has become institutionalised and all we can do is read about the sheer pillage by those who say they work for the people of Malaysia.

The question to ask is simple. Are there any honest people left in the government or civil service that will do anything about the Auditor-General's Report?