'Over-borrowing' civil servants take home zero income

The Sunday Mail, Kuala Lumpur

'Over-borrowing' civil servants take home zero income
P. Selvarani Nov 13:

THOUSANDS of civil servants in the country are believed to be taking
home "zero" income after having their salaries deducted for various loans,
especially those taken from co-operative societies.

Many of them are even owing the Government money as their salary
deductions exceed their monthly income, thus breaching the maximum 60 per
cent limit on salary deductions imposed by the Public Services
Department (PSD).

A majority of the civil servants in this financial quagmire are those
who have taken numerous loans from co-operative societies, in addition to
their existing Government housing and car loans, where repayment is done
through monthly salary deductions through the Biro Perkhidmatan Angkasa
(Angkasa), the umbrella body for co-operative organisations.

Under PSD regulations, civil servants are allowed to have a maximum
of 60 per cent of their salaries deducted. Among the deductions are
repayment for Government housing and car loans. Those who exceed the limit
on salary deductions are not allowed further loans.

Sources said the problem of "over-borrowing" is so prevalent that
many civil servants have resorted to borrowing from loan sharks to make
ends meet.

"The take-home pay of some of these employees is zero while others are
taking home barely RM200 a month. How do they feed their families on
such a meagre sum? They are forced to borrow from loan sharks.

"This is where we get cases of people going into hiding when they are
unable to service their loans with the 'Ah Long'," said a source.

The situation is most acute in Sabah where 3,372 civil servants were
recently found to have breached the 60 per cent limit on salary
deductions and were taking home pittance.

The problem is so worrying that earlier this month, Sabah Chief Minister
Datuk Musa Aman had expressed fears that loan sharks were becoming
the "best friends" of civil servants in the State.

Musa had, on October 6, said that the debt problem among civil
servants had become so serious that it was affecting their work.

It is learnt that most of these borrowers were able to secure loans
from the co-operatives and other organisations through forged pay slips.

"It is either the work of syndicates or an inside job where the
payslip of the civil servant is falsified to show a higher income, thus
making
him or her "eligible" for another loan without breaching the 60 per cent
limit.

"These forged payslips are done so professionally that it is difficult to
detect them.

"Some unscrupulous co-operative officials also work hand-in-glove
with the applicants by abetting them in forging the payslips as they are
eager to give out loans even when they know the applicant is not
eligible," the source said.

It is learnt that the Sabah branch of Angkasa recently detected a
case where several members of a particular co-operative had submitted
forged payslips to apply for loans.

Sources said despite the Sabah Angkasa branch rejecting the
applications, they were subsequently approved by the Angkasa headquarters
in Petaling Jaya.

"Obviously, some people within Angkasa are aiding and abetting those who
flout the 60 per cent limit. This has been going on for some time now
but Angkasa does not seem to be taking action against those who breach
the PSD ruling," the source said.

Ends

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