Sunday, June 17, 2007

Can't pay your civil servants?

If so, write in to us, Putrajaya tells Kelantan government. Well, I thought the pay rise announced by the PM recently (effective July 1) means all civil servants in all states will rejoice. It's not the case, it seems. Kelantan, which is under Pas rule, has limited financial resources and the Fed knows it. "They have no new sources of income besides relying on land premium and timber revenue," says Awang Adek, the deputy Finance Minister and a BN Member of Parliament from the state. Apart from Kelantan, other state governments did not face problems to pay the new salary, he adds, adding that this clearly reflected weaknesses of the Pas-run state government.

The campaigning has begun. Read the Bernama story here.

6 comments:

  1. Odd, really.
    I know Kelantan has some problems, but this is really bad.
    I reckon, some forces want Nik Aziz out.

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  2. Anonymous2:10 pm

    How will Sheih the blogger be paid now and earn a living now?

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  3. Not odd really because any Islamic state in the Republic of Singapore must be dealt with severely and this is an explicit instruction from the Bush administration to Prime Minister Loong. Among the best states loved by the Republic is Sarawak, Sabah, Penang, Perak, Malacca, and Johore and Selangor! Recalcitrant states are Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah, Perlis, and NS!
    So Kelantan unless you are in the stable expect to suffer you must comply!

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  4. What's the borrowing statistics for each state?
    Let's compare how the pay rise is being financed?

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  5. Hi Rocky,
    As usual with this Administration, Awang Adek was only stating a half-truth. Kelantan is not the only state which runs an operating deficit. Why do the other states have no problem paying the salary increase ?
    Without going into fine legal details here, the financial arrangements of the States vs. the Federation of Malaysia would be easily understood by those of you who have reasonably well-to-do parents. If you are short of money, you can always get a Daddy loan, within certain limits. Like your Daddy loans, they can have very favourable terms.

    In this case, I suspect it is the PAS government which just doesn't want to go to Putrajaya with a begging bowl in hand....unlike other Barisan states which also have financial deficit problems.

    The Federation cannot legally refuse a reasonable request for operating funds from a State, regardless of the Party it is under. I don't think there was actually any refusal by Putrajaya - more like there was no request from Kota Bharu.

    The would be a major Constitutional crisis if Putrajaya ever tried something like that, and I don't think there is any such case.

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  6. Bro,
    I was in Kuala Lumpur when the Fed. Gov announced the increase in salary. The next day I was informed that the Kelantan state also followed.
    So far we yet to have problem with our salary. In fact, we received our salary every 23rd of each month. Dato' Husam who is the Chairman for the Finance and Civil Administration also did not mention about any problem regarding the pay rise.
    In fact this is news for us.

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