The government should give the auditor-general And Public Accounts Committee (PAC) powers to punish errant government officers, said DAP today.

In a statement, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng opined that swift action must be taken in light of the recent discovery of misuse or mismanagement of public funds outlined in the Auditor-General 2006 Report.

"Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi [should] arm both the auditor-general and PAC with punitive powers to check the alarming decline in standards of public accountability, transparency and integrity in government departments," he said.

Calling such disclosures an 'annual ritual of shame', the DAP leader cited the National Youth Skills Institute (NYSI) for paying RM8.39 million more than the market price in 2002 for the purchase of 13 items for their programme, as an example.

However, Lim was not satisfied with the explanation by Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman that the contracts dated back to 2002, before she was appointed to the post.

"Azalina cannot avoid her responsibility by stating she was not the minister then but should take the initiative to find out why did the government allow the contractors to mark up contract prices up to 100 times the market price.

"[Azalina] must get to the bottom of this scandal explain why their spending was not in order, and take action against errant officials," Lim said.

He also highlighted that the Defence Ministry's RM6.75 billion expenditure on the purchase of six off-shore naval patrol vessels that were either delivered but not operational or still undelivered.

'Covering up'

Lim also criticised the Treasury for 'covering up' purchases of equipment at higher than the market value and had included infrastructure cost and other additional accessory items in their quotation.

The Treasury had claimed the purchase of 90 sets of Faber Castell technical pens at RM1,146.56 per set, when the market price is RM160, also included a set of spare nibs and other accessories.

Lim responded: "Such explanations are ridiculous as it would mean that the accessories are more expensive than the original item, as much as almost 10 times the price of the original technical pens."

"Is this another case of 'Malaysia Boleh' where the accessories are more expensive than the main parent item?" he asked.

Lim stressed that it is impossible to expect the PAC to be able to cover every item raised in the report since it merely has authority to investigate, vet and recommend actions to be taken.

"That is why such punitive powers should be given to the Auditor-General to take disciplinary action and force officers that recommend purchases of items above market price to make good the difference.

"For bigger scandals and fund mismanagement, the PAC should step in and take action on cases that involved billions of ringgit," he added.