KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — The government will continue to work tirelessly to transform the country into a nation of integrity, given the mandate it has from the people, said Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok.
In a statement issued in conjunction with International Anti-Corruption Day yesterday, she outlined the measures the government has taken to weed out corruption in the country.
She talked of the formation of the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC), the asset declaration by Pakatan Harapan (PH) MPs; the government’s no-gift policy and the slew of corruption cases, among others.
Kok said corruption can be gradually diminished only where the core leadership of a country is clean.
Elaborating on the anti-corruption measures, she said some key agencies are no longer under the Prime Minister’s Department but now report to Parliament.
These include the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC); Election Commission; Human Rights Commission of Malaysia and the National Audit Department.
Kok said the various measures taken by the government and the MACC to stamp out corruption in the country have begun to bear fruit.
She said Malaysia has begun to clear its name from corruption scandals in the eyes of the world with a slew of corruption cases against several former senior leaders.
“Let’s not forget the billions of ringgit that vanished into big projects and investment schemes helmed by the previous government,” she said, alluding to losses suffered by the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and Tabung Haji.
Citing a corruption case under her ministry, Kok said the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) was plagued with massive corruption involving corrupt government officials and cronies of a political party.
She said that according to the Auditor-General’s Report, the previous government had short-changed and forced the MRB to sell 2,800 acres of its land at Sg Buloh at below market price of RM1.5 billion in 2010.
Kok said the anti-corruption efforts of the government have not gone unnoticed.
According to the Anti-Corruption Perception Study of MACC Series 13/2018 on the people’s perception regarding the government’s seriousness to fight corruption, the index has increased 11 per cent from 59.8 per cent in 2016 to 70.8 per cent last year, she said.
She also said that the Edelsmann Trust Barometer Global shows the level of public confidence in the government having risen to 60 per cent this year compared to 46 per cent in 2018.
Last year’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of the global anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International, showed that Malaysia was at the 61st spot out of 180 countries, she said, adding that with the launch of the National Anti-Corruption Plan this year and the high-profile cases, Malaysia is likely to improve its standing in the CPI. — Bernama
