The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in Tokyo yesterday that the Public Works Department (PWD) is responsible for maintenance of government buildings and there should be no “finger-pointing” whenever a defect occurs.

Abdullah said: “I’ve told Samy Vellu that the PWD was responsible for matters related to maintenance, don’t quarrel among yourselves, it’s embarrassing.

“It’s alright if you want to talk it over and carry out the repairs jointly …what’s the point of quarrelling with each other to the extent of the people knowing.

“If there’s something wrong, talk to each other, cooperate and do it quietly… what’s the point of quarrelling in the newspapers, one says they’re responsible, the other says it’s your problem.

“Already people are unhappy with what has happened, who is to take responsibility and who is responsible have also become a public issue, two agencies quarrelling…this is not good.

“Whoever is responsible must have the sense of responsibility to make sure what it was responsible to do. It takes action, it carries out its responsibility.”

While the first public reaction is one of relief that the Prime Minister has finally broken his “elegant silence” on the RM100 million Parliament leaks, the latest in the litany of government building and public construction defects, Malaysians’ concern and even alarm about the effectiveness of the Abdullah premiership has not been addressedl

This is because Abdullah’s comments have only served to aggravate increasingly widespread public disquiet about the shambolic administration and the lack of effective and dynamic government leadership in the country, with many questions jostling for answer, such as: Read the rest of this entry »