PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will head a small group to look into optimising projects involving government agencies and departments.

The group will also look into delays that have occurred and to reviews the processes involved.

Najib, who attended the Prime Minister’s Department’s monthly meeting this morning, said this group was needed as it would help to optimise the expenditures for such projects.

He said: “If there is a problem with the process we will review it. I have also asked the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) to form a secretariat for this.”

This group, Najib said, would be chaired by him, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.

At the same time, the prime minister also called on civil servants to optimise their spending as Malaysia would see a challenging year ahead due to the plunging world oil prices.

Reiterating that it was necessary to adjust the 2016 Budget tabled in October last year, Najib said civil servants should always ‘think out of the box’ as this would help to increase their productivity.

He added that by being creative and innovative, civil servants would be able to increase their productivity levels in ministries, agencies and departments while benefitting the country as a whole.

It was the first monthly meeting of the year? for the Prime Minister’s Department. Also present were Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa and Public Services Department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal.

-NST