Ombudsman Malaysia to replace, improve functions of PCB

The purpose of establishing Ombudsman Malaysia is to replace and improve the functions of the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) in serving the public to resolve complaints and promoting good governance in the public sector.

PCB director-general S Letchumanan said this was also to ensure that the body has a clear authority to investigate any complaints received.

"In the existing policy, the word investigate is not clearly defined and terms like ‘examine’ or calling a witness are used, which are actually steps of an investigation.

"So what we want is an Ombudsman that will really have the power to investigate. We want it to be explicitly mentioned that it has investigative powers just like the Ombudsman all over the world.

"When the Ombudsman Malaysia Bill is passed in Parliament later, the PCB will automatically be dissolved and transformed to Ombudsman Malaysia."

He said this to reporters after an engagement session with members of Parliament regarding the proposal for the establishment of Ombudsman Malaysia in the Dewan Rakyat today, which was also attended by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Legal and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.

Last May, Azalina said the Ombudsman Malaysia Bill was in the final stage and expected to be tabled in Parliament this October.

Elaborating, Letchumanan said Ombudsman Malaysia is established as a federal statutory body and the transition from PCB is expected to take two years.

"Currently at PCB, we have 180 officers and they will soon be members of Ombudsman Malaysia.”

He said there were still several matters that need to be examined before they could be presented in Parliament this October.

“We need to re-examine certain areas. Several suggestions were raised today, among them regarding enforcement powers and issues related to misconduct among the Ombudsman's staff... but there are no major policy changes.

"In addition, the existing Public Complaints Management System will also be improved and rebranded to suit the functions of Ombudsman Malaysia,” he said.

- Bernama