KL officials told to halt foreign trips

KL officials told to halt foreign trips

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): In a measure to bolster its battered
currency, the Malaysian government has barred all civil servants
from spending their holidays abroad, a local newspaper reported
yesterday.

Top government officials were ordered Dec. 15 to reject any
applications for leave made by employees who wish to travel
overseas, The Star daily said.

It was not immediately clear who issued the edict although
government officials confirmed yesterday that a number of
departmental heads working with the government have already begun
implementing the ban.

"It comes as a surprise to us," Abdul Aziz Mohamed Sultan,
deputy president of Cuepacs, was quoted as saying by The Star.
Cuepacs is an umbrella organization for all government labor
unions in Malaysia.

"We support the Government's measures to curb wasteful
spending." Abdul said. "However, the blanket rejection of these
applications is an infringement on the staff's right to spend
money at any chosen destination."

Malaysia, among the countries hit hardest by Asia's prolonged
economic crisis, announced a series of austerity measures late
last year to avoid further declines in the nation's currency and
stock markets.

Salaries of cabinet ministers and senior government officials
would be cut 10 percent and raises of lower-paid bureaucrats
would be frozen as of Jan. 1, Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
announced in December.

The ministers also agreed to spend their vacations in
Malaysia.