KULIM: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has lauded the rationalisation of statutory bodies to improve the government delivery system and reduce excessive expenditure.

Cuepacs president Datuk Adnan Mat said the government should do away with the practice of setting up statutory bodies for the sake of creating positions for political appointees.

"It has happened before. In the end, politicians were appointed to the statutory bodies.

"Setting up a statutory body for the sake of creating an income for hardcore supporters of political organisations should not have happened.

"We must think thoroughly because the practice of appointing politicians as chairmen of statutory bodies is not doing any good for the people and the country," he told reporters when met after attending a gathering with civil servants here today.

Present was Kulim Municipal Council president Datuk Elmi Yusoff.

Citing an example, Adnan said Ceupacs had once voiced its objection against the move to set up the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) in 2010, since its establishment overlapped with the functions of the Road Transport Department.

"However, SPAD was set up anyway with new appointments that overlapped with the RTD duties, and it was eventually decommissioned.

"The same goes with some other agencies that have duplicative job scope, where half of the job is being carried out by one agency while the other half of work is being done by the other agency.

"Each of the agencies is functioning below their capacity load and this is a waste of government funds," he said.

Adnan said this is why Cuepacs is calling for its involvement in a secretariat to overcome administrative issues and the country's expenses so that it could convey the views of its members to the government.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the setting up of the Secretariat for the Rationalisation Study of Federal Statutory Bodies.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said the move was part of the government's exercises in reforming the civil service and rationalisation of statutory bodies with aims to reduce excessive expenditure and waste.

He has pointed out that there are too many statutory bodies with overlapping functions, which complicated operations.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/09/1101728/cuepacs-lauds-move-rationalise government-statutory-bodies