PUTRAJAYA (Aug4, 2008) : Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has blamed civil servants for many of the problems in the country which has made the people angry and hate the government.

He said this (anger and hatred for the goverment) can be reduced if civil servants would change their attitude and carry out their responsibilities accordingly so as not to create unnecessary problems for people dealing with the government.

"...for example, our inefficiency in doing our jobs, our extreme bureaucratic measures which make people hate us,our actions which people think involved corruption, or our decisions on the private sector or the people which were made too late," he said at the PM’s Department monthly assembly this morning.

He warned that foreign investments which is much needed by the country as they bring projects and job opportunities for the people may be lost if potential investors find there were delays or unsatisfactory decisions in Malaysia.

"They (foreign investors) will not come if they have to face a higher cost due to the delay in the government’s decision-making process. Surely they would not like to accept this extra cost, especially because it comes from the administration," he said, adding that when making decisions, civil servants must always be patient, sincere, honest, responsible and trustworthy.

"Don’t let people think we are not responsible, not trustworthy, not caring at all or arrogant. This will surely make them angry and this is not good because all these are our own doing."

"It is not because of Europe or what is happening in America or other countries. This is our own doing, which we must avoid," he said adding it is also the people’s responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the country.

"We are the ones who determine our peace and stability. Not other countries; not other people. Yes, it may be difficult when we were facing various problems but it is still our responsibility to take care of political stability, to ensure peace within our country.

"We have laws whose sovereignty we must uphold strongly. Our enforcement must be effective. This is what we should do - our responsibility. No need to ask people from far to come (here) or accuse others for our inability to ensure peace and stability," he said.

Abdullah also touched on the government’s delay in making payments especially to contractors despite the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan saying all bills will be settled "within the shortest time possible."

"Don’t delay. Why should we delay payment of the bills? The works have been done, the money now belong to others, why would we want to keep it? Why should we delay when people are waiting?

"If it is delayed for three months, the cost of business will increase. They cannot make their payments to the banks. When this happens, the interests will become higher. This is also our problem which makes people angry at us," he said.

He said when the people are angry, all kinds of negative stories will be heard and allegations will be made against the country, especially in the borderless Internet world.

"I am not saying all those who used the Internet and blogs are not good. While there are some who were responsible, there are also those who abused it," he said, adding some people misused the Internet to spread rumours.

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