On corruption, prevention is better than cure, Dr M tells civil service
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) today took another swipe at Putrajaya, claiming that corruption was worse now because of endless bureaucracy and red tape.
In his latest blog post, Dr Mahathir said top civil servants must show tangible results in the work of their subordinates, with monthly reports detailing their performances.
"Applicants generally do not dispute the decision made by the authorities or complain because of delay.”
"Bribing holds less danger than directly challenging authorities by going ahead and doing something without the necessary approval."If an application has been rejected or delayed, therein lies the temptation to offer bribes to resolve the issue, Dr Mahathir said.
He suggested that the authorities make sure the conditions for the approval of any application are clear, simple and easily known to the public.
"When everything is crystal clear, the frontline officers will be fully exposed to his superiors, who will go through the processed applications to ensure that the terms and conditions have been met.
"In the event that the officer's superior is working hand in hand with him for a share of the bribe, an investigation should be launched immediately.
"Both the officer and his superior will then have to bear the consequences of their actions," Dr Mahathir said.
He also said that the monthly report on the performances of the officers, especially those in the frontline, be made accessible to the public.
"The reports should include clear indications of the numbers of applications rejected and why. Any action taken, especially for corruption, should also be made public," Dr Mahathir said.
Additionally, to further reduce the opportunities for graft, application forms should be made as simple as possible.
Long explanations and descriptions on how to fill the forms should be avoided or kept at a bare minimum.
Dr Mahathir suggested that "Yes/No" answers in boxes areas should be filled by the applicants while the officer will only need to tick or cross the box provided for each answer by the applicant.
"Each officer should only be required to examine, approve or reject a small number of required conditions. I propose a workflow chart.
"It should only take a few minutes to tick or put a cross in the required box before passing the application to the next officer."
Dr Mahathir said the entire process including the decision of all officers should take no longer than three days. After three days, the applicant should be required by law to present himself at the office to discover the outcome of his application.
He added that all meetings between the officers and applicants should be taped and recorded in a diary.
"It is important that there should be sufficient numbers of officers to deal with the applications, and if necessary, more officers should be appointed.
"Senior officers reserve the right to question their subordinates if they are dissatisfied with any application that has been disapproved."
In this way, the senior officer can then see the applicant and explain why the application has been rejected or perhaps for any errors to be corrected and the form resubmitted.
"Any officer who is found to have slowed down the workflow by more than three days should be called up to give an explanation.
"If the same officer is called up more than three times to give an explanation, he should be blacklisted, either passed over for promotion or transferred to another post."
Dr Mahathir said his suggestions were merely opinions and hoped that Putrajaya could consider his proposals.
"The public should also be consulted to hear their suggestions and objections over the procedures and forms."
He claimed that during his 22 years leading Malaysia, he had also executed his suggestions to a certain extent.
"Take the rapid growth of Kuala Lumpur for example, it took place in the early 1980s because it was easier for people to get approval then," Dr Mahathir said. – January 22, 2014.
