KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — A PAS MP today accused minister Datuk Paul Low of failing to institute measures to root out corruption at the highest levels of the government.
Raja Kamarul insisted that changes have to start at the top of the civil service
“Datuk Paul is not in touch with reality of real problems on the ground of Malaysian society. Major problems of huge proportion is in abundance at the apex of our government,” the Kuala Terengganu MP for PAS said in a statement today.
Low, who heads Putrajaya’s anti-graft efforts, said yesterday that the federal government has set up Governance and Integrity Committees (Jitu) or internal committees within ministries and state governments to fight corruption and cut down on wastage.
The committees will be led by the respective ministers and state government leaders, with Low himself taking the role of co-chair.
There are now over 180 certified integrity officers (CIO) within these committees tasked with probing corruption complaints and improving procedures to prevent graft, Low had said.
Raja Kamarul said the new initiative simply adds to an already bloated civil service already 1.4 million-strong.
“Don’t waste our time and money with this charade and window dressings. We need real substance with real transparency,” the first-term lawmaker said.
Last August, Low said Putrajaya would gradually dispatch 500 certified integrity officers — that will be appointed and trained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) — to promote good governance in ministries.
The first-term minister had announced last July a “ministry by ministry” approach where “comprehensive good governance and anti-corruption measures” would be carried out with the personal collaboration of each minister.
His statement last year had come after the release of Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013 results, where 70 per cent of Malaysian respondents polled said the government’s campaign against corruption was not yielding results despite its anti-graft efforts.
This was down from the 48 per cent of those previously polled in 2011 who felt the government was making headway in reining in corruption.
