Date : Monday 13 June 2005
The New Straits Times :Guess who's a victim of red tape?
Thousands of civil servants deprived as appraisal results still not in after 10 months
M.K. Megan
KUALA LUMPUR, Sun:
Many civil servants are in the dark over the outcome of the Government’s competence level appraisal last year, with some having waited 10 months for results.
While all 200,000 teachers have yet to be informed of their performance, most government department staff are believed to be in the same boat.
The delay is costing two groups of civil servants dearly: those expecting to be promoted or moved to the next salary scale.
The absence of notification will not affect others, who will receive mandatory increments.
Cuepacs, which represents all 900,000 civil servants, is unable to state the actual reason for the delay.
Cuepacs president Nordin Abdul Hamid told the New Straits Times he had been given a number of possible reasons by Public Service Department staff, including that of ministries sitting on the results.
"I have also been told that the PSD has not received notification from the competency boards of the ministries," Nordin said.
National Union of the Teaching Profession president Ismail Nihat said the tests were probably being re-marked due to a large failure rate, reminiscent of last year.
Last year, nine per cent passed the inaugural test sat in 2003, with results known only in April last year.
The figure was increased to 15 per cent after many complained about the poor pass rate.
The test is a crucial component in promotions for the 900,000 civil servants under the Malaysian Remuneration Scheme introduced in 2003.
Civil servants began sitting for the appraisal in August, with the last test conducted in December.
For more info :
http://www.nst.com.my/The Star :Cops no longer have final say on prosecution of criminal cases
BY CHELSEA L.Y. NG
Exclusive: PUTRAJAYA: The Attorney-General’s Chambers is ready to take charge of prosecution of criminal cases in all the Sessions courts, which is currently handled mainly by the police.
The move, in the further interest of justice, will separate the powers of the investigator and the prosecutor, and is aimed at putting another level of protection for those under investigation.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said the move had already been set in motion, adding that it was in line with the recent recommendation of the Royal Commission Report on the Police that prosecution should be done by his Chambers and not the police.
“I have given a directive to my deputy public prosecutors. I have assigned an officer in each state who will be in charge of all the police prosecuting officers.
“After the DPPs have taken over the Sessions courts fully, we will move on to the magistrate’s courts,” he said in an interview.
Previously, police officers helped out with the prosecution in the lower courts and could make decisions on certain criminal cases that did not need the DPP’s sanctions to prosecute.
The practice was for DPPs to appear in the lower courts for selected cases, those involving rape victims or other “vulnerable” witnesses.
Gani said the new directive meant that all police officers who prosecuted in Sessions courts would have to refer the cases under their charge to the state DPP before conducting the trial in court.
For more info :
http://thestar.com.my/
