'DON'T WAIT FOR MACC, ACT AGAINST CULPRITS NOW'

'Don't wait for MACC, act against culprits now'

KUALA LUMPUR 2011/10/29: Government agencies must take their own initiative and act against officers involved in the irregularities highlighted in the Auditor-General's Report 2010.

Transparency International Malaysia deputy president Prof Datuk Mohamad Ali Hasan said the agencies must get down to the root of the problems and take remedial measures to show that they were taking the matter seriously.

"They must not wait for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to take action.

"If their internal investigations show any form of wrongdoing, they must mete out some form of punishment, whether by cutting the officers' salaries to cover the excess cost or demoting heads of department as they are not capable of being a good example to their subordinates."

Ali's opinion was backed up by Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

"If the irregularities involve department heads, disciplinary action must be taken against them. This issue concerns the public who expect the agencies to act in line with the government's promise of transparency and accountability."

Lee also suggested that an overhaul of the procedures on procurement of items and services be considered to prevent similar problems from recurring.

"Any shortcomings in administrative procedures must be addressed immediately."

However, Ali said the auditor-general's report would not create too big an impact on Malaysia's Crime Perception Index (CPI) as a lot of positive action was being carried out by the government at the macro level.

"On the micro level, there might be some impact, but we hope it won't affect the overall CPI."

Ali said the government must toughen its measures on checks and balances to ensure that irregularities were minimised.

He proposed that reviews be carried out by an audit committee within the ministries and departments every six months.

"There must be self-regulated checks. We cannot wait an entire year for the auditor-general's report before we are made aware of any financial discrepancies."

Last year, Malaysia's CPI ranked 56 out of 178 countries with a score of 4.5. The score, which indicates "10" as no corruption and "0" as extremely corrupt, fell short of the government's target of 4.9. Among Asean countries, Malaysia came in third after Singapore and Brunei.

Institute of Integrity Malaysia (IIM) president Datuk Dr Mohd Tap Salleh said the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) and IIM conducted training to ensure the integrity and accountability of government officers.

"We train them on performing their duties diligently and with integrity and on preventing corruption among their colleagues. Many programmes have been carried out to reduce cases of graft within the public service."

Tap said what was especially important was for government agencies to find out if its officers involved in the irregularities were repeat offenders and whether they had deliberately caused the irregularities for their own benefit.

It was reported yesterday that the MACC had begun investigations into irregularities revealed in the auditor-general's report.

Less than a week after the report was made public, MACC had opened 36 files, including scores of investigation papers on, among others, elements of non-compliance and falsification of documents by government agencies.

The report, tabled in Parliament on Monday, highlighted several glaring discrepancies in the spending of several government agencies.