KEPALA BATAS: The government must conduct a comprehensive study on critical allowance for civil servants which is an issue that remains unresolved.
Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar (pix) said the government has still not received any feedback from any party on whether a proposal paper on the matter had been submitted to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.
“The government is still looking at the latest development and will study the allowances given to all civil servants whether they are firemen, health personnel, teachers, police, armed forces and others,” he said yesterday.
He added that the proposed paper must be sent to Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
“I have not heard anything official about the proposal paper being submitted, but as far as I know, it must first be referred to Zuraida,“ he said.
On July 20, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Al-Mustafa Billah Shah expressed his concern for the welfare of firemen including the critical allowance of RM200 a month.
According to Zuraida, she was still waiting for Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision on a special allowance incentive which would benefit up to 14,000 firemen throughout the country.
On a separate development, Ismail said the flexi hours which will be implemented from next Thursday, Aug 1, will show if it was more efficient for civil servants working from 9am until 5pm.
“The flexi hours is not a new thing but was implemented 10 years ago. We want to see how effective it is,” he said.
He added that the government will make an assessment subject to requests from every group of civil servant.
“We will study every feedback received to see if they accept flexi hours from 9am till 5pm
The flexi working hours introduced by the government benefit civil servants including avoiding traffic congestion, and giving them time to send their children to school and nurseries,” he said. — Bernama
