KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lamented today the slow pace with which Malaysian government agencies process applications, saying the bureaucracy also lent itself to opportunities for abuse.
He stressed that the country must rid itself of this bureaucratic inertia, which he said has also been taken advantage of by some in order to enrich themselves as well as their friends and families.
Anwar said he has learnt that some who wanted to buy or even rent homes were having difficulty doing so due to such delays.
“We have the capacity to be great again and move away from this sluggish slow pace of development aided by an old, tired and extremely corrupt system.
“We have the capacity to be great again, but only through a growth scenario that’s convincing can we share this experience with the rakyat.
“This starts by picking up the pace of approvals in this case for housing and development,” Anwar said at the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) 50th anniversary dinner tonight.
Anwar said he wanted an end to the old ways in which politicians and the politically-connected would enrich themselves with large government contracts, crowding out better and more qualified contractors.
He blamed this group for causing the economy to suffer adding that they refused to change their ways.
As such, Anwar recounted his experience with a blind tender with Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming.
“We kept it to Company A or Company B, chose them based on experience and financial standing and we believe we have the best people.
“Nga knows I mean business and won’t compromise on this. Rehda is also serious they know were serious and with this change in attitudes we will find an ease of doing business unlike before,” he added.
