Malaysia’s public delivery system has seen some degree of improvement, over the past few years, thanks to the efforts of the Abdullah administration. However, the Public Complaints Bureau has in recent months seen complaints against government frontliners piling up. once again. NURRIS ISHAK finds out where are civil servants going wrong
| Immigration officer Nor Azura Wahyu attending to a family applying for passports. Those in the public service sector should be proactive in dealing with the public. |
THOSE who grew up in the 1980s would remember an advertisement by Filem Negara Malaysia on government department frontliners.
The advertisement featured a man waiting in line early in the morning to buy stamps at the post office. The problem was he had no small change and ended up being berated by the clerk behind the counter.
Have things changed since?
Over the years, there have been many directives from ministers and chief secretaries to the government directing civil servants to be more courteous and efficient.
Admittedly, some things are much easier. Renewing your passport, for example, is only a matter of hours instead of days. And gone are the days when getting your identity card would mean waiting for a few months. Now you can get it between 10 and 14 days.
These changes are the result of the push by the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to improve the public delivery system in the country.
Recently, though, frontline officers in government agencies have come under fire again.
Statistics from the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) shows that the number of complaints against government departments and agencies has more than doubled in the past three years. The complaints range from delays or failure to take action, unsatisfactory quality of service, failure of enforcement, unfair action and failure to adhere to procedures to abuse of power and misconduct. For the past three years, police recorded the highest number of public complaints received by the bureau, followed by the Public Works Department and government-linked Tenaga Nasional Bhd.
When it comes to states, the most number of complaints in 2006 and last year were against the Selangor government, followed by Johor. However, Johor tops the list of complaints for the period from January to October this year.
Last week, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan said the rise in the number of complaints should be translated as "the public's response" on how to improve it. He said the more complaints received, the better it was, because it would help the civil service to see where it was going wrong. Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam thrust the much-maligned service into the limelight recently when he said the quality of service among civil servants was on the decline. Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator T. Murugiah said the Public Service Department should hire quality people to work for the government. "They should not be taking in their friends or family friends or family members into the service. They must look for quality, not quantity, when recruiting those who want to join the government sector. "They have to look for those who are academically qualified and disciplined." Those in the public service sector should also be proactive in dealing with the public and not wait around for the people to call on them before taking action, he said.
"Even then, one of the most common complaints is that the officers in government departments don't answer phone calls. As public servants, they should be serving the public. "They should go to the ground and meet with people. Most importantly, they should like their jobs. "They should realise that they are collecting their salary from the government so they have to perform their duties well, they are obliged to serve the public." The problem does not lie with the leaders, said Murugiah. Most times, the department or agency leaders are good, but their subordinates fail to follow instructions for whatever reason. "This is where the problem lies. The order would come from the upper levels, but either it is ignored or executed halfheartedly. "Some ministries have complained about me, saying that I am interfering in their affairs but I'm only trying to assist them in rectifying the matters." He said many people had complained that despite having written formal letters, making calls and having spoken with the officers in charge, no action was taken on their complaints. Thus they have no choice but to go to the Public Complaints Bureau. "The problem is when a ministry or a department has to be represented during the mediation process, they would send officers who don't have the authority to make the decisions. These officers will excuse themselves by saying they have to refer the matter to their higher-ups as they are not the decision makers. "The problem would then remain unresolved or matters have to be postponed for them to get the approval from their bosses. "I've tried to explain to all the ministries that when there is a meeting with the PCB, they should send someone who can make decisions. "It's hard to do my duty. We give the instructions but they don't follow. The leaders want to do their job well. But when the instruction is given, the officers don't want to follow, so the files move very slowly." The PCB has 270 officers specialising in different areas, and all are well-trained to assist complainants. "My office is open to the public every Tuesday, from 10am till late at night so that they can come in and lodge their complaints directly to me. "I have engaged three other officers to assist me, as sometimes we would get between 200 and 300 people coming to lodge complaints." The director-general of PCB, Dr Tam Weng Wah, said the government had been trying to ensure that the public delivery system was working well, finding out what was lacking and resolving problems. "The PCB monitors all departments and agencies, and some may be more difficult to deal with than others, sometimes because of the bureaucracies. "But if we were to compare the number of complaints against the size of the population, it is quite low. "The delivery system has improved by leaps and bounds in certain cases. As the technology changes, we can still improve it further."
By Nurris Ishak;NST Online 27/12/2008
