10 years of no action unacceptable, says Pak Lah

The Star 25/5/2006

TOKYO: Unacceptable – that is the verdict of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on departments and civil servants who take years to act on the complaints of the people.

“They must act as quickly as possible, as the people’s complaints are a form of feedback on the Government’s policies.

“Ten years is totally unacceptable. This is why the people get angry with us,” said Abdullah.

He was commenting on a report that the Selangor Department of Environment took a decade to start prosecution against an illegal factory in Sungai Janggut, which had been dumping its toxic waste in a haphazard manner. He described it as a “neglect of responsibility that should not have happened”.

The Prime Minister said departments must carry out their investigations.

“This is the same as abandoned government projects. The authorities should not wait up to four years to revive the project,” he said.

“By then, all sorts of fixtures would have been spoilt or stolen. I have seen missing toilet bowls and window frames in such abandoned projects.

“This just drives up the cost of reviving the project. The extra cost is unnecessary.”

On the Sarawak elections, Abdullah said the Barisan Nasional must carry out a study on why it lost nine seats.

On Sarawak United People’s Party vice president Datuk Peter Chin statement that the loss was due to the party fielding “wrong candidates”, Abdullah said: “I am sure the choice of candidates is not the only reason for the loss. There must be other reasons and I want a detailed study.”