After a week of intense adverse publicity, including ludicrous pronouncements by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi about missing guns “falling into the sea”, Malaysians are no nearer to finding out what has happened to the loss of RMRM1.55 million worth of police assets, including 44 firearms, 156 handcuffs and 29 vehicles, between 2010 and 2012 as revealed by the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report – whether and how many of such police assets have really “fallen into the sea”!

Yesterday, the Malaysian Insider in its report “One down, 43 to go. One of my men reported his gun was stolen, says police task force director” quoted the Federal Special Task Force (Operations and Counter-Terrorism) director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun as saying that one of the 44 missing guns was stolen from a policeman by a snatch thief.

Although this would account for one of the 44 missing guns, the immediate question that arises is why the policeman had taken more than a year to report that his gun was stolen by a snatch thief!

As a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary, Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa, and comprising the director-general of the Public Service, the Attorney-General as well as representatives from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Finance Ministry and the Royal Malaysian Police, has been formed to scrutinise the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report, it is best that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should present a White Paper to Parliament on Oct. 21 to tell Malaysians what has happened to the loss of the RM1.33 million worth of police assets, including all the 44 “missing firearms” – based on the initial findings of this Scrutiny Committee.

Najib’s White Paper should also enlighten Malaysians on the latest updates about the many “horror tales” of corruption, wastage, abuse of power and negligence uncovered by the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report, such as:

• The imprudent establishment of the RM175 million Police Air Wing with five Beechcraft King Air 350 aircraft;

• The RM1.6 million expenditure by Youth and Sports Ministry to bring in three South Korea pop groups for the National Youth Day celebrations last year in contrast to the claim that the cost had been covered by sponsors;

• Failure by Public Works Department to recover RM15.77 million in performance bonds despite terminating 21 government projects;

• The building of the RM73 million Malacca Customs and Immigration Quarantine Complex (CIQ) on private land resulting in a RM10.8 million compensation to the landowner;

• A RM303,813 travel claim by a Communications and Culture Ministry senior officer for a four-day study trip to Geneva which the auditors felt was worth only RM50,000;

• Waste of RM199 million spent on construction of four incinerators by the National Solid Waste Management Department as there was no expertise to operate such machines once they were built;

• Government overpayment of TM by RM11.6 million for 999 emergency line; and

• Severe mishandling of RM2.051 billion for hiring security contractors for schools between 2010 and 2012 – from poorly prepared contracts to hiring of septuagenarians as security guards.

If Najib is unable to present a White Paper when Parliament reconvenes on Oct. 21 on the latest updates of government actions on the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report, then the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister must explain to Parliament what is the purpose and utility of establishing the high-level Scrutiny Committee on the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report headed by the Chief Secretary.