KOTA KINABALU, July 21 — Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) is looking forward to extending its collaboration with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) towards the creation of an Organisation Anti-Corruption Plan.

Its director Augustine Tuuga said SWD must work with all possible partners to build understanding and ensure that wildlife, forest and fisheries agencies were trained and equipped to respond to corruption.

"We must be aware that corruption is multifaceted and can occur at every stage of the wildlife, forestry and fisheries value chain.

"It can include bribes for information on the movement of animals or patrols, or to obtain rights and quotas, or grease the wheels of shipments, to ensure that they are not inspected or seized,” he said.

Tuuga said this during a workshop on Challenges of Enforcement in Combating Corruption in Wildlife Crimes organised by SWD, MACC and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) on July 13 and 14.

The workshop attended by Sabah and Sarawak representatives of law enforcement agencies is aimed at increasing awareness on anti-corruption laws including witness and whistleblower protection as well as training for inter-agency Working Group on Wildlife Crime Intelligence.

It was also a platform for the different agencies to share the difficulties in fighting corruption on wildlife crimes, according to the joint press statement released by the agencies here, today.

Tuuga remarked that this was the first time an anti-corruption workshop with emphasis on wildlife crimes was held in Sabah. — Bernama