By LIM SUE GOAN
Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE
Sin Chew Daily

Many people might have been confused by the names, including the Government Transformation Plan (GTP), the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the National Key Result Area (NKRA) and the Key Performance Indicator (API).

The government held the GTP Roadmap 2.0 Open Day at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on July 24. However, what is the GTP Roadmap 2.0? It must be traced back to the 2008 general election.

A public opinion result in 2008 showed that the people were concerned about corruption, economy, crime rates and other issues. Therefore, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak introduced the GTP based on the principle "People First, Performance Now" in April 2009, and the GTP blueprint was revealed on January 28, 2010.

In April 2010, the government introduced six NKRAs, including to reduce crime, fight corruption and improve public transport system. In July 2011, the seventh NKRA was introduced, namely to reduce the people's living burden.

The first phase (2010-2012) is to achieve the goals of the seven NKRAs and KPIs, while the second phase (2013-2015) is to lay a foundation for the high-income economy target.

The GTP and the ETP are complementary. If the public sphere lacks efficient and is weak in management and execution, it is impossible for the country to achieve the advanced-country vision. For example, serious corruption causes invisible cost and eventually undermines investment climate.

The ultimate goal of the GTP is to bring substantial changes to solve the people's problems, and improve the people's satisfaction with the BN government. However, there is a gap between the achieved result with what was expected, particularly in terms of fighting crime.

Therefore, new measures will be implemented in the second phase of the GTP, including the introduction of the Sistem Semakan Online (SSO), to offset negative views.

It has been three years and the people have recognised the implementation weaknesses of the GTP and the ETP, which are not concealable by grand launching ceremonies and open days. Fancy ceremonies can only achieve a stunning effect but we still have to return to reality.

According to the 2011 Budget, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) received RM12.59 billion from 2011 to 2012 to implement the GTP and the ETP.

It received RM9.1 million to fight crime, RM22 million to improve education and RM265 million to reduce living burden.

Over RM27 million was spent in 2010 on open days and promotional costs. The NKRA and the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) alone cost RM30 million. A total of RM16 million was spent on the 12 laboratories of the NKEA in May and June of 2010, while RM14 million was spent on the other 12 laboratories from January to November of the same year.

The expenses of the transformation plans over the past three years were alarmingly high. Would these plans be sustainable amidst the government's failure to make ends meet and increasing debts?

In fact, the key lies on execution. The government should focus on it to avoid making the plans idle.