In the evening-news yesterday, I heard Najib nailing the challenge Malaysia has when it comes to spending:

 

If we subsidise oil more, people:

 

• don’t know the real value of oil and
• won’t be making efforts to consume less

 

For example the MRR2 cracks AGAIN

 

• … don’t know the real value of construction works and
• won’t be making efforts to pay less …

 

If we follow Najib’s logic the scenario would be like this:

 

1. First of all you need to know why there are cracks, then
2. you need to know how to solve the problem
3. you buy your solution
4. the repairs get done
5. you inspect the repairs
6. you pay for good work and you don’t pay for bad work

 

The real money wasting scenario went like this:

 

In 2004, residents noticed cracks in 31 of the 33 pillars supporting the flyover.

 

1. Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu at first maintained that the cracks were not due to any design flaw.

 

RED FLAG

 

With all respect for the person Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu: how can he simply say this? Is he an authority on construction, in other words, is he an engineer with experience in the field?

 

No, he has to rely on what other people say… hearsay…

 

So let’s do the scenario the Najib way and get somebody with knowledge in:

 

1. … consultants’ study later found that design deficiencies and improper anchoring at the crossbeams were responsible for the cracks.

 

Unfortunately, there is no guideline describing how to solve the problem but:

 

3. The Government spends RM70mil “to undo the damage”.

 

RED FLAG

 

The government pays without inspecting the work…

 

And now 4 years later the cracks re-appear…

 

Our PM today repeats the obvious logic we stipulated above:

 

… this could have been avoided if parties responsible had ensured earlier repair works were done accordingly and properly so that damage does not occur again in such a short span of time…

 

RED FLAG

 

Is PM just saying this or is he going to grab the bull by the horns, go after the culprits to set an example in:

 

• guidelines how to spend money wisely
• guidelines how to find the best value for money
• guidelines how to evaluate money spent
• guidelines how to claim money back and
   
• a force that can INFORCE all this

 

 

Najib wants less subsidises in order to educate people about prices

 

I so agree with Najib, he just needs to go all the way:

 

• education starts by explaining why the price of oil is high in an oil producing country
• education starts by having a clear view about the national and international economical systems
• education finishes by evaluating if the subsidises do reach the goal they were implemented for:

  in other words:

  What do we gain by giving subsidies compared by not giving subsidises and invest the money somewhere else

 

So if I understand Najib well all he needs to implement is:

 

• education so people using the money can buy value for money
   
• education so people not getting subsidies understand why it is in the benefit of the whole country
   

Education is the keyword here:

 

only well educated and well informed citizens can make wise decisions

Share This

Technorati Tags: abdullah, abdullah badawi, Education, Malaysia, Malaysia Newspaper, MRR2, najib