Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has called for a speedy rectification of the so-called "State Treasury (ST) system problem" that has affected more than 200 Water Department staff.Its Chief Christina Liew said it was shocking to learn that the problem dates back to January this year and remains unresolved until today. "Where is the Government's much shouted about concept of 1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now? The workers in question have got families to feed. It is Ramadan now and Hari Raya Puasa is around the corner. What has happened to them does not reflect a caring government."Please resolve the technical problem swiftly, whatever the shortcomings are, so that they (workers) can receive their outstanding wages soon," she said in a statement, Thursday.
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Liew was commenting on a front-page report in the Daily Express that implementation of a new system by the State Treasury has been blamed for more than 200 Water Department contract workers (pekerja harian sambilan or part-time daily wage-earners) state-wide going unpaid, some since January.It was revealed that the system was changed last year and the new one requires input of a lot of additional details.The payment submissions made by the Water Department were queried by the Treasury because of the failure to comply with the requirements of the new system, according to the Department's spokesman.
Liew, who is Api Api Assemblywoman, said it was ridiculous, given that information technology is supposed to expedite work, and not in the reverse causing wage woes unnecessarily.
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"Come to think of it. What's going on with the Water Department? It is in the limelight again for the wrong reason.
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It was only last October that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) raided the State Water Department and confiscated RM114 million worth of assets and RM54 million in cold cash from the office and homes of two senior officers," she quipped.
