PEMANDU's self-praise to milk government

The attack toward PEMANDU as responsible for the poor performance of Barisan Nasional in the recent General Election was not taken lying down by them.

The Choice [read here] claimed the policy and program generated by PEMANDU is working and should continue. They are the only portal defending PEMANDU but it sounds like only PEMANDU praising themselves.

None had defended PEMANDU in the Internet since most pro-UMNO bloggers are aware of the game played by Omar Ong in helping put Pakatan Rakyat's campaign. Blog Gelagat Anwar warned in August 2011 here.

One source informed us that the feedbback effort to maintain their existence is actually an effort to form a high level Committee formed by PEMANDU to advise the Cabinet. It would mean that the cabinet will be reduced to a mere stamping office to endorse PEMANDU's recomendation or more accurately, instruction.

Indication as the report below:

Transformation Work Comes in Two Waves

The Star Online, Monday June 10, 2013

I ALWAYS look at transformation work coming in two “waves” of activities.

The first wave involves a lot of intervention work, which is required to deliver big fast results. I call this the intervention wave.

The Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu)'s role is deliberately interventionist in our approach. This includes introducing specific changes in strategy, action programmes and whatever it takes (including changes in processes, procedures, systems, etc) in order to deliver the desired results and outcomes.

Examples of intervention work introduced by Pemandu are the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmaps, labs, Open Days, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Weekly Dashboard and Problem-solving Meetings, National Key Economic Area (NKEA) and National Key Result Area (NKRA) prioritisation, Steering Committees, external and international validation by experts and transparent Annual Reports to the public.

The second is the sustainability wave of activities. This involves building capacity and capability so that the organisation can continue the work without any need for intervention.

This entails instilling the right leadership capability, organisational culture and competence development. Done over a sufficient period of time leveraging on certain processes, then the organisation is truly equipped with the ability to sustain the transformation on its own. No longer will it need “external intervention”.

The organisation will and can adapt, change and re-invent itself in the face of external pressures.

Having spent the first four years on the intervention waves, Malaysia will now be introducing the sustainability waves of transformational activities. This does not mean we stop abruptly the intervention work but rather, we add the sustainability agenda on top of the interventional work. As the sustainability work matures, the intervention work reduces and gradually ceases over a period of time.

Read on here

That way it serves one purpose and that is to continue to milk the Government.

Malaysiakini and FMT may be an opposition portal but they share our common concern.

When it was established, RM36 million was spent to McKinsey and Company. Read Regina Lee writing for Malaysiakini in 2010 here from Kit Siang's blog. Who doesn't know who she works for now?

It continues to extra more money through consultancy fees and labs.  Read the FMT report below:

Cost for NKEA labs 'exorbitant'

Free Malaysia Today RI, 24 SEP 2010 14:37

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

KUALA LUMPUR: The consultation fees for the entire Selangor economic blueprint cost just a fraction of what the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) had spent on just one of the 12 national key economic area (NKEA) labs, claimed prominent independent analyst Ong Kian Ming.

Ong, one of the consultants working closely with Pemandu for the education cluster in one of the NKEA labs, told FMT that the entire consultation cost for the 12 labs by the Najib administration was close to RM23 million, exorbitant when compared to the fees paid by the Selangor government for the state's economic blueprint.

"This whole exercise, in terms of the consultants' fees (independent poll centre Merdeka Centre and myself), will cost the Selangor government RM120,000, slightly more than 5% of an NKEA lab," he said, adding that one NKEA lab alone cost the government about RM2 million in terms of consultation fees.

"Will the end product be as 'good' as an NKEA lab? I cannot be the judge of that since the (economic) blueprint has not been written.

"But I think it will be at least on par if not better than an NKEA lab because of Merdeka Centre's experience in dealing with political issues and gauging what implementation plans can be more easily 'sold' and implemented and because of my own experience as a consultant, academic and political analyst," he said.

Ong is also one of the consultants hired by the Selangor government for its economic blueprint.

Staff shortage for NKEA labs

It is learnt that Pemandu, led by Minister in the Prime Minister Department Idris Jala, had to organise and run the NKEA labs at short notice. Most of the staff involved with the NKEA projects are those also working on the National Key Results Areas (NKRAs), another aspect of the Najib administration's reform efforts.

This had forced the outfit to rely heavily on external international consultants which included McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Ethos, with McKinsey leading the group and spearheading four labs. The rest are spread among the firms.

"If the existing Pemandu staff were not doing the NKRAs and perhaps had more consulting type experience, they probably would have been able to manage the NKEAs by themselves, without the help of external consultants.

"But because of the short time frame involved, they had to rely on the consultants... as a taxpayer, I would obviously not be happy with the amount of money spent on the consultants. As a consultant myself, I know that it could be done at a much cheaper rate. The Selangor blueprint is proof of this," said Ong.

Given that the overall cost of the NKEA labs are kept under the Official Secrets Act, FMT was told by sources that Pakatan Rakyat MPs will be seeking clarification on the matter when Parliament convenes mid-October.

Vision 2020 may not materialise

The NKEA labs were conducted to find ways to boost the economy of which the outcome was the identification of 131 entry point projects that the government claim can mobilise more than a RM1 trillion in private investments needed to realise the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

The ETP is one of the key programmes crafted by the Najib administration to realise Malaysia's developed nation status in 10 years although various leaders, including former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, believe that Vision 2020 is doomed to fail.

Some of the projects identified are infrastructural, such as the KL mass transit system, the high-speed rail system to Singapore and Penang and the construction of a huge oil storage facility next to Singapore.

Despite widespread scepticism that the private sector would respond, 60% of the identified investments worth RM1.4 trillion would come from the private sector, 32% from government-linked companies and 8% from the government.

There was a source that wrote a critical review of PEMANDU but somehow or rather, PEMANDU may bought over the website and changed the content.

For all the money spent, what have PEMANDU delivered? For a start, talk is RAPID Pengerang will be postphoned. There is many more screw-ups.

Here is a view of a "staff" member of MIER:

PEMANDU has done a lot to promote Najib’s Transformation agenda. But what has it really achieved apart from talk and spin by Minister Idris Jala? 

There is a huge gap between rhetoric and reality. ETP is all talk. If  we judge Jala by results, PEMANDU is a failure. It should, therefore, be disbanded. 
 
In the past, we have relied on professionals in the Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, to do the job and they did a very credible job, judging from what was accomplished in terms of economic growth and development.

What can PEMANDU and its external consultants do that the EPU cannot do better in terms of dealing with macro economic challenges we face today?

EPU should be asked to get the job done.

More on PEMANDU failure and screw-ups.