The government has suffered losses of between RM3 billion to RM5 billion a year due to revenue leakages at the country's entry points, said Chief Secretary to the Government Ismail Bakar (above).

He said the revenue leakages were due to smuggling activities, either due to negligence or lack of equipment to monitor and control the border.

"The revenue leakages have been going on for a long time, we do have data on revenue leakages especially in terms of our negligence or inadequate equipment ... for example, cigarette and liquor smuggling and this is still happening," he told a press conference in Sungai Petani.

Earlier, he attended a meeting with the heads of state and federal departments of Kedah and Perlis.

Without elaborating on the data, Ismail said the use of new technologies to monitor border crossings should be upgraded to prevent the country from losing revenue there.

He said monitoring of civil servants in charge of the entrances should also be carried out from time to time to ensure they are capable of carrying out their duties.

Meanwhile, Ismail said civil servants should work to increase cooperation with politicians, especially those who are members of government administration.

According to him, serving at the same division, whether at the ministry level or government agency, civil servants should look at politicians as a group that needs to be approached and not shunned.

"We have to improve cooperation but it does not mean we should be involved in politics, we must look at civil servants as neutral who have to perform certain tasks and we are the backbone of the government," he said.

- Bernama