PUTRAJAYA, Sept 2 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today urged the civil service to swiftly implement administrative reforms to elevate government productivity levels to 95 per cent.
Speaking at the Prime Minister’s Department’s monthly assembly here, Anwar acknowledged that while the civil service’s performance has been commendable, there is still room for significant improvement.
“We can expect September to be the month when reforms will be implemented more effectively,” he said.
Anwar pointed out that the merging of agencies and departments has not been carried out satisfactorily, with overlapping roles and inefficiencies still prevalent. He also expressed dissatisfaction with reports from heads of departments, director-generals, and unit heads regarding the sluggishness and negligence of some officers.
“What we are asking for now is the immediate execution of some of these reform measures,” the Prime Minister said.
He added that he would discuss further steps to enhance civil service performance with newly appointed Chief Secretary Datuk Seri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar and Director-General of Civil Service Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.
Citing Islamic teachings, Anwar emphasized the importance of not settling for mediocrity and striving for continuous improvement.
“When we say productivity levels are good, is it the maximum, or can it be improved? Productivity has increased from 70 per cent to 85 per cent, but why not 95 per cent?” he asked.
