Press Statement by Lim Guan Eng in Georgetown on Tuesday, 28^th July 2009: 

For the KPIs in the 6 KRAs to succeed there must be a full breakdown of the RM 10.9 billion spent to prove that it benefits all states and all Malaysians 

For the Key Performance Index(KPIs) in the 6 Key Results Areas(KRAs) to succeed, there must be a full breakdown of the RM 10.9 billion spent to prove that it benefits all states and all Malaysians. There is a need to ensure that the money spent by Federal government abide by the principles of CAT – Competency, Accountability and Transparency.

For instance in fighting corruption, all government procurements must go through an open tender exercise. However how can there be an open tender exercise when it is only restricted to companies registered with certain Ministries or there are rules that the successful tenderer must source their inputs from certain manufacturers? Further the murder of Teoh Beng Hock in the Selangor offices of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission(MACC) has raised public perception that MACC is more of a political weapon used against the opposition than fighting corruption.

Unless there are institutional reforms, fighting corruption will be as difficult as when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as Prime Minister promising to fight corruption. Who would forget that instead of improving the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 31 in 2009, Malaysia actually regressed to 43.

Will The 150 CCTVs Promised For Penang Be Installed Speedily When The 48 CCTVs Promised 2 Years Ago Has Still Not Been Installed?

Whilst no one would dispute the need to cut down street crime by 20%, money spent must be effective not just in reducing crime in statistical terms. In other words, cutting crime must make people not only be safe but feel safe. Unless the people feel safe, no amount of parroting statistics that the crime index has fallen will convince people that they are safe.

If the government can not recruit 60,000 more additional policemen in time, then they must marry technology with the community by installing CCTVs and promoting self-help community policing. Using this twin approach, would be an effective temporary measure to check crime.

Penang welcomes the proposed installation of 150 CCTVs in Penang to reduce crime but this is still far from the minimum number of 400 CCTVs required throughout the state covering both the island and Seberang Perai. The Penang state government hopes that there are no longer any delays in the installation when even the earlier 48 CCTVs promised and approved 2 years ago has still not been installed by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

The failure of the Minister in charge of KPIs Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to be appointed to head any one of the 6 KRAs is surprising questioning his relevance as a Minister. The 6 ministers are in charge of meeting the KPIs for the 6 KRAs:

1. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as lead minister for widening access to quality and affordable education;

2. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for crime prevention;

3. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz for fighting corruption;

4. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil for raising the living standard of the low-income people;

5. Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal for upgrading infrastructure in the rural and interior regions; and

6. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat for improving public transport in a moderate period of time.

There must also be value for public money spent. Whilst expanding electricity coverage to 95% of Sabah and Sarawak is good, Sabahans ask why there are still frequent power breakdowns in Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu and Tawau? The Federal government should ensure that there is regular and reliable power supply. For this reason, there is an urgency for the RM 10.9 billion spent to be non-discriminatory and beneficial to all states and Malaysians equally if the KPIs in the 6 KRAs are to succeed.

* Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary-General & Penang Chief Minister; Member of Parliament for Bagan