The Malaysian Institute of Integrity (MII) has expressed concern at persistent reports of Public Servants involved in graft and misappropriation.
Senior General Manager Operations Division at the MII, Hamilye Sham Harun said whenever this happened it reinforced the assumption that all Public Servants were on the take.
“Even though the number of Civil Servants involved in corruption cases or Government procurement leakages is comparatively small, it could create an impact and the situation could worsen if the menace is not nipped in the bud,” Mr Hamilye said.
“According to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission statistics, Civil Servants made up 46.3 per cent of 4,860 persons arrested for graft offences from 2014 to June 2019,” he said.
“This figure, when compared to the total number of Civil Servants, does seem rather small.”
However, Mr Hamilye said that even if one out of the 1.6 million Public Servants committed a graft offence, this should be a cause of concern.
“What is more worrying is that graft is getting to be more rampant as seen in the news about Civil Servants from various Agencies being detained,” he said.
Mr Hamilye said there were three “fragile” sectors that must be focused on — procurement, enforcement and licencing — to ensure that corruption did not become a cancer.
“Heads of Departments of each Agency such as each Ministry’s Secretary-General, the Chief Executive and so forth, need to develop an anti-corruption plan, apart from taking immediate action on criminal activities that are happening,” he said.
“This culture among Civil Servants of not wanting to report on any corrupt practices should stop because the informer’s identity will not be revealed, their safety is assured and they will be given an incentive.”
Mr Hamilye said that several Ministries, Departments and corporate Agencies had yet to develop anti-corruption strategies.
Kuala Lumpur, 19 January 2021
