PUTRAJAYA, May 9 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke today said that he will be arranging a meeting with Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki for further information on the reports of alleged misconduct involving the staff of an agency under his ministry.
He will request his ministry to give its full cooperation to the MACC and to act on the matter as long as the reports contain evidence, he told reporters at his ministry today.
A report this morning had named the agency in question as the Road Transport Department (JPJ).
“The new administration under this prime minister will not compromise on any sort of misconduct as we have placed integrity as a culture of the administration and it is an important foundation of this government,” he told a press conference after the Hari Raya celebration at the Transport Ministry.
He will ensure that any cases involving his ministry will face appropriate action, he said.
He added that he wishes to know the full information of all cases involving disciplinary matters and issues related to governance, including the officers involved.
He explained that MACC has the power to prosecute criminal cases without the involvement of the ministry, but not for cases involving misconduct or disciplinary issues.
“I will instruct the secretary-general (KSU) to take measures to carry out this duty and also take action against any of the cases that were brought up,” he added.
Earlier today, the New Straits Times (NST) published an interview with Azam, who claimed that at least 500 reports of alleged misconduct from MACC to several government agencies involving the latter’s personnel were left unaddressed and ignored.
He reportedly said that it was standard practice to notify the heads of departments (HODs) of possible wrongdoing by their subordinates.
“Many of them just ignore it and we sent letters to remind them,” he was quoted as saying, referring to MACC’s reports.
The NST report said that MACC statistics showed that 553 misconduct reports had been left unaddressed, some of which were submitted 12 years ago.
It is understood that the bulk of the misconduct reports, totalling 125, are related to the police, followed by the JPJ.
