MENTERI PELANCONGAN LANTIK LEBIH 20 PEGAWAI?

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Ianya satu pendedahan yang pasti membuka mata kita semua.

Ia mengenai Menteri Pelancongan yang melantik 20 pegawai dan di antara mereka menerima gaji berlipat ganda dari lebih dari satu syarikat.

Jelapang mengambil sedikit masa untuk menterjemahkan artikel muka depan ini untuk faedah pelayar. Maaf sekiranya terjemahan ini kurang tepat. Bacalah dan buatlah andaian sendiri.

TERJEMAHAN

Persoalan pegawai Kementerian berlebihan
Oleh R. Nadeswaran dan Terence Fernandeznewsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA (Okt 12, 2008): Menteri Pelancongan jelas mempunyai terlalu ramai pegawai dan perlantikan sejumlah 20 pegawai melanggar peraturan Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam yang menghadkan seseorang Menteri melantik tidak lebih dari lapan pegawai.

Tindakan (melantik pegawai berlebihan) tersebut jelas bertentangan dengan pekeliling yang dikeluarkan oleh Perbendaharaan berkaitan langkah-langkah penjimatan dan pengurangan kos.
Pejabat Menteri berkenaan mempunyai tiga pegawai khas, lima pegawai politik, seorang pegawai penyelidik, enam pegawai teknologi maklumat dan lima staf sokongan.

JPA hanya membenarkan seorang Menteri mempunyai seorang Pegawai Khas, seorang Setiausaha Sulit Kanan atau pentadbiran atau pegawai tadbir diplomatik, seorang setiausaha sulit atau penolong pegawai pentadbir, seorang setiausaha akhbar atau pegawai penerangan, tiga pembantu tadbir dan seorang pembantu pejabat.

Butir ini terdapat dalam beberapa dokumen yang diperolehi theSun yang juga turut menyiarkan beberapa kepincangan lain, seperti:

> pelantikan-pelantikan yang diawalkan untuk mengenepikan pekeliling JPA dan Perbendaharaan.
> pemohon-pemohon dibayar lebih dari yang dipohon.
> pembayaran gaji berlipat ganda melalui syarikat-syarikat lain; dan
> ketiadaan proses pemilihan yang telus memandangkan jawatan-jawatan berkenaan tidak diiklankan.

Surat menyurat antara pegawai-pegawai Kementerian dan setiausaha sulit menteri kepada beberapa pegawai tertinggi syarikat subsidiary Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board mendedahkan pelbagai pelanggaran peraturan.

Dalam sepucuk surat bertarikh 23 April, Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Datuk Ab Ghaffar A. Tambi menulis kepada bekas Ketua Pengarah Tourism Malaysia Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, mengarahkan beliau membuat pembayaran gaji kepada 20 pegawai yang pada zahirnya ditempatkan di Pejabat Menteri – antaranya dari kalangan pegawai khas ke pembantu tadbir.

Surat seterusnya lebih menyerlah apabila perlantikan mereka di awalkan tarikhnya.

Memandangkan hanya JPA yang boleh meluluskan perlantikan baru ini, tindakan mengenepikan peraturan telah dilakukan dengan meminta anak syarikat Tourism Malaysia Pempena Sdn Bhd dan syarikat sekutunya Malaysian Travel Business Sdn Bhd dan SD Corp Communications Sdn Bhd untuk membayar gaji mereka.

Ketua Pengarah JPA Tan Sri Ismail Adam pada 30 April mengeluarkan pekeliling menekankan kepada garispanduan dan larangan perlantikan pegawai Menteri-menteri dan Timbalan-timbalan Menteri.

Setiap syarat perjawatan (di dalam pekeliling tersebut) dinyatakan dengan jelas berserta gajinya sekali. Seseorang Menteri boleh melantik lapan pegawai sementara Timbalan Menteri boleh melantik empat pegawai.

Pekeliling tersebut berkuatkuasa 19 Mac – seminggu selepas ahli-ahli Kabinet baru dilantik.
Seterusnya pada 2 Mei, Perbendaharaan mengeluarkan satu pekeliling membekukan perlantikan-perlantikan baru sebagai langkah kerajaan mengurangkan kos.

Bagaimanapun dokumen diperolehi menunjukkan beberapa perlantikan di pejabat menteri dibuat selepas tarikh tersebut dan di dahulukan ke 1 April.

* Pada 11 Jun, Setiausaha Sulit Kanan Menteri Mohd Daud Mohd Arif meminta pengerusi Malaysian Travel Business Datuk Abdullah Ahmad untuk melantik tiga orang sebagai "penolong pentadbir” dengan gaji antara RM2,100 hingga RM3,000. Abdullah diarahkan untuk mengawalkan perlantikan 1 April.

* Pada 12 Mei, setiausaha sulit Menteri, Suziyana Natasya Abdullah, menulis kepada pegawai sumber manusia Pempena Mariam Amy, dengan mengepilkan satu senarai mengandungi 16 nama dan 17 borang permohonan pekerjaan dengan Pempena untuk “tindakan segera”.

Perlantikan beberapa pegawai-pegawai ini tidak dinyatakan dengan terperinci di dalam borang permohonan. Sebagai contoh David Chiam Joy Woon "yang memohon" jawatan sebagai "pegawai khas" (special officer) dan menyatakan gaji yang dipohon sebanyak RM6,000.

Bagaimanapun, dokumen pembayaran gajinya menunjukkan David Chiam dibayar gaji antara RM5,000 hingga RM10,000 sebagai pengarah eksekutif SD Corp dan RM5,000 sebagai ahli lembaga pengarah Malaysia My Destination (MYD) Sdn Bhd.

Beliau juga ahli lembaga pengarah beberapa syarikat bersekutu dan anak syarikat termasuk Malaysian Travel Business dan Awana London, Awana Beijing.

Bekas pemberita sukan Malay Mail, Tony Mariadass, memohon pekerjaan sebagai "pegawai penyelidik" dengan gaji yang dipohon sebanyak RM8,000.

Beliau juga disenaraikan sebegai salah seorang pegawai di pejabat Menteri tetapi “dilantik” sebagai pengurus besar Shopping Malaysia Secretariat (SSM) dengan gaji RM10,700.

Tony Mariadass dan Chiam sebelum ini bekerja dengan Menteri yang sama di Kementerian Belia dan Sukan.

Mohd Radzi Ramli memohon jawatan pegawai politik (political secretary) dengan gaji yang dipohon sebanyak RM4,405 tetapi turut memegang jawatan pegawai kanan (perhubungan kerajaan) di SSM, dengan gaji RM3,000.

Untuk rekod, gaji untuk empat orang untuk menguruskan SSM sekurang-kurangnya RM23,000 sebelum, tidak termasuk sumbangan KWSP, bil perubatan dan kemudahan-kemudahan lain.

Perlantikan lain di dalam senarai 16 orang yang tidak dinyatakan di dalam borang permohonan pekerjaan ialah Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, pengarah eksekutif Pempena. Beliau dibayar RM10,000 dan disediakan sebuah kereta dan dreber.

LAPORAN ASAL (English version)

Poser over excessive staffing at Ministryby R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA (Oct 12, 2008): The tourism minister’s office has excess baggage. It’s over-staffed and the appointment of some 20 staff contravenes the Public Services Department (PSD)’s regulations limiting the appointments to only eight. It is also in defiance of a Treasury circular on cost-cutting and austerity.

The minister’s office has three special officers, five political officers, one research officer, six Information technology (IT) officers and five support staff

The PSD allows a minister to have only one special officer, one senior private secretary or administrative and diplomatic officer, one private secretary or assistant administrative officer, one press secretary or information officer, three administrative assistants one general office assistant

These details are contained in documents sighted by theSun which also highlight other discrepancies, such as:

> the appointments were backdated to circumvent circulars from the PSD and the Treasury;
> applicants being paid much more than they asked for;
> multiple payment of salaries from different companies; and
> absence of proper selection process as the posts were not advertised.

The correspondence between the ministry’s officers and minister’s private secretaries to heads of subsidiary companies of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board expose a series of breaches of government rules and regulations.

In a letter dated April 23,the ministry’s deputy secretary-general Datuk Ab Ghaffar A. Tambi wrote to the then director-general of Tourism Malaysia Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, directing him to make arrangements to pay the salaries of 20 staff who on paper are attached to the minister’s office – ranging from special officers to administrative assistants. But subsequent letters are telling indeed with the appointments being back-dated.

As only the PSD can approve new appointments, the guidelines were circumvented by getting Tourism Malaysia subsidiary Pempena Sdn Bhd and its affiliates Malaysian Travel Business Sdn Bhd and SD Corp Communications Sdn Bhd to pay their salaries.

PSD Director-General Tan Sri Ismail Adam had on April 30 issued a circular emphasising the restriction of appointments in the offices of ministers and deputy ministers. Each designation is spelt out with a proper salary structure. Ministers can have eight and their deputies, four. The circular was effective March 19 -- a week after the new members of Cabinet took office.

Subsequently, on May 2, the Treasury issued a circular freezing new appointments as part of the government’s cost-cutting measures. But documents show that some appointments in the minister’s office were made after that date and backdated to April 1.

* On June 11, the minister's senior private secretary Mohd Daud Mohd Arif requested the chairman of Malaysian Travel Business Datuk Abdullah Ahmad to employ three persons as "administrative assistants" with salaries ranging from RM2,100 to RM3,000. Abdullah was asked to back-date their appointments to April 1.

* On May 12, the minister’s private secretary, Suziyana Natasya Abdullah, wrote to Pempena human resource officer Mariam Amy, attaching a list of 16 names and 17 Pempena employment application forms for "immediate action".

The appointments of several of these officers do not reflect details in their application forms. For example David Chiam Joy Woon "applied" for a job as "pegawai khas" (special officer) and put his expected salary as RM6,000. However, in documents related to payment of his salary, he is being paid RM10,000 -- RM5,000 as executive director of SD Corp and another RM5,000 as a board member Malaysia My Destination (MYD) Sdn Bhd. He is also a board member of other affiliates and subsidaries, including Malaysian Travel Business and Awana London, Awana Beijing.

Similarly, former Malay Mail sports reporter, Tony Mariadass applied for a job as a "research officer" with an expected salary of RM8,000. He is listed so in the list of officers in the minister’s office, but has since been "appointed" general manager of Shopping Malaysia Secretariat (SSM) at a salary of RM10,700. Co-incidentally, both he and Chiam had previously worked for the same minister in the Youth and Sports Ministry.

Mohd Radzi Ramli applied for the post of pegawai politik (political secretary) with an expected salary of RM4,405 but also holds the post of senior executive (government liaison) at SSM, with a pay of RM3,000.

For the record, it now costs at least RM23,000 a month in salaries to four people, to run the SSM, not taking into account EPF payments; medical bills and other perks that come with the jobs.

Other appointments on the list of 16 whose names do not appear in the forms include Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, who is executive director of Pempena. She is paid RM10,000 and is provided with a car and driver.

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=26521

CITIZEN NADES: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=26524