MELAKA, Aug 4 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) will be requiring all its employees to sit for an Integrity Evaluation Test to gauge the transparency attitude of the individual according to the job scope especially for placement, promotion and to assess the personal ability of staff.

JKDM director-general Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam said the test which would be conducted by the Integrity Institute of Malaysia and MIMOS would be carried out in stages as it involved a huge expenditure for its staff of more than 14,000 people.

He said JKDM needed to spend RM180 for one employee to sit for the test and the implementation of the test would depend on the availability of allocation.

“JKDM is the first enforcement agency in the country to carry out the test and we hope it will assist the management and empower the integrity of the department to be corruption-free and enhance the image of the department in the community.

Advertisement

“To date 116 grade WK19 Assistant Customs Superintendents and WK48 Customs officers appointed this year had sat for the test,” he told reporters after closing the Grade WK19 Assistant Customs Superintendent Basic Course here today.

Also present were Customs deputy director-general (Management) Datuk Hasnol Zam Zam Ahmad, Customs deputy director-general (Customs and GST) Datuk Paddy Abd Halim and Royal Malaysian Customs Academy (Akmal) director Datuk Azimah Abd Hami.

A total of 116 grade WK19 Assistant Customs Superintendent completed their 12-week training which began in May at Akmal in Ayer Keroh here.

Advertisement

Commenting further Subromaniam said integrity was the key to success and achievement of an organisation and it was not limited to acts of corruption but also involved attitude or behaviour which could tarnish the trust of the people on the organisation.

He said last year, JKDM Disciplinary Board handled 105 disciplinary cases involving six main offences such as absence from work (43 cases), corruption and abuse of power (24 cases), not complying with Customs procedures (10 cases), drug abuse ((8 cases) as well as violating code of conduct (20 cases) “A total of 67 employees were found guilty and 32 of them were terminated. I want to stress here that JKDM will not tolerate indiscipline among employees,” he said.

In another development, he said the department had begun internal investigations relating to the detention of six Customs employees and a senior officer by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at KL International Airport (KLIA) and Pahang recently.

Asked whether they would be transferred to another unit in the department, he said the measure would not solve the problem and instead firm actions, including termination should be taken against those found guilty.

“We are still waiting for MACC to complete its investigations and all of them are still remanded to assist investigations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Subromaniam also launched a bullet shell disposal gadget known as G-Song which could assist JKDM to save about RM302,000 in expenditure annually.

He said the innovative product made by Customs and Akmal employees at a cost of RM4,000 would be commercialised soon.

“Apart from saving expenditure as the department is paying someone to crush spent bullet shells, it also saves time,” he said. — Bernama