Civil Servants Briefed On Better Financing Through TAFIS Project
By Laila Rahman

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Ministry of Finance yesterday held a briefing on the Treasury Accounting and Financial Information System (TAFIS) project for senior government officials and civil servants.

The programme was held at the Ministry's premises.

Opening the session was Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Setia Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Ibrahim, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance.

Present as the guest of honour was Dato Paduka Haji Yakub bin Abu Bakar, Deputy Minister of Finance.

In his speech, Dato Paduka Haji Yakub explained that in the early 1980s and 1990s, the Treasury Department had created an integrated planning information system but the Ministry of Finance was unable to implement it due to lack of manpower.

However, in 1997, the Ministry was able to outsource the computer system through an open tender and after ensuring that all security and safety measures complied with the government standards, a joint venture was established between the government owned company, BAG Networks Sdn Bhd and Accenture Technology Venture on July 18, 2002.

Dato Paduka Haji Yakub added that he was confident the TAFIS project would bring changes in work practices conducted by government financial services. With the TAFIS project, the government will be able to provide better customer service while moving towards a paperless government.

The highlight of the ceremony was a presentation on the background of the TAFIS project, its implementation, a briefing on BAG Networks Sdn Bhd and TAFIS Security.

Speakers included Haji Mahmud bin Haji Md Daud, Dato Paduka Haji Metassan bin Haji Momin, Azhar bin Hj Ahmad and Pengiran Haji Md Kasmirhan bin Pg Haji Md Tahir.

At the end of the ceremony, guests were invited to visit various units of the Ministry of Finance.

The TAFIS programme became the flagship for egovernment in early 2002. The system is one of the initiatives of the government to implement the egovernment strategy in their administration.

The TAFIS programme is about redesigning end-to-end financial business processes and practices within the government and its departments.

It not only covers but seeks to integrate information from the financial accounting and financial services areas, seeking to make financial processing more efficient, streamlined and customer focused.

The implementation of the TAFIS project comprises four levels, where Milestone I focuses on the Ministry of Finance, Treasury and Audit Department, Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Home Affairs, Communication and Health. Currently 900 officers and government staff are using the TAFIS programme.

Milestone 2 focuses on payment services through Electronic Fund Transfers with banks, Milestone 3 and 4 are scheduled to be completed one year earlier than expected. When complete, there will be an additional 2,301 TAFIS users compared to the current 1,421 users.

The TAFIS programme can automatically stop every expense or commitment of a department whenever the allocation has exceeded the approved allocation. Through research it has been established that leave allowance payment, for example, would only take 13 days to process using the TAFIS programme, which is 65 per cent faster than the old system, which would need 37 days to process the leave.

Another example is that payment vouchers that have been processed by a department and received by the Treasury Department can be paid within 10 days, which is 73 per cent more efficient that the previous time needed to make payments, which is 37 days.

In addition to that, payment vouchers received and approved by the Treasury or Sub-Treasury Department can be made in only two days instead of the normal four days.

Payment to suppliers currently using the TAFIS programme will only take 27 days, which is 51 per cent faster than the old system, which needs 55 days to process the payment.

For more information contact the TAFIS Service Desk at 2382282, from Monday to Thursday and Saturday between 8.30 am and 5 pm. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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