Public Service Department’s (JPA) director of organisational development Datuk Norzam Mohd Nor says CEOs in government agencies do not understand their own specific roles and do not know how to manage them. ― File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 ― A whopping 60 per cent of chief executives helming government statutory bodies appear to have little knowledge about their agencies, Public Service Department’s (JPA) director of organisational development Datuk Norzam Mohd Nor said.

The CEOs allegedly do not understand their own specific roles and how to manage their agencies, as stipulated by Putrajaya, Malay daily Utusan Malaysia reported the government official saying.

“They have already done their responsibilities well but there are those who forget to look at their tasks and core business of the organisations that they run,” Norzam was quoted saying at a government statutory bodies’ conference at the University of Malaya (UM) here yesterday

“They have to be clear and must understand that. Furthermore, they have to play a huge role in giving advice, drafting and tabling reports about their own agencies.”

Norzam also urged the agencies to monitor their performance and goals periodically to stay relevant.

While he noted the majority were mediocre, he also said there are excellent government agencies and asked the heads to make changes from time to time to keep abreast of developments.

“They have to see and implement restructuring in the existing agencies to ensure that the statutory bodies can work better,” he was quoted saying.

According to Putrajaya, there are 738 government statutory bodies, under both the federal government and state governments.