WITH the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) cracking down on graft in Government-linked companies (GLC), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) urged the Government to institute reforms on how GLC’s are run so as to ensure transparency.
“We need to look into reforming our GLCs to ensure they are transparent and accountable to taxpayers. Perhaps, we can look into a central coordination system to serve as a reporting mechanism to eradicate divergences between policies.
“Such coordination will also help provide effective cross communication among ministries, agencies and sectors that will benefit from GLCs work,” Rasuah Busters CEO Nurhayati Nordin told FocusM.
On April 8, the MACC arrested eight people over suspected graft involving projects worth RM2.3 bil belonging to a GLC.
According to The Star, the anti-graft body said the suspects held senior positions in their respective companies – a CEO, chief operating officer, executive officer, a director and an owner of a company.
“Several seizures were made following the arrests, including 10 luxury vehicles, more than RM27,000 in various currencies, 50 pieces of jewelry including gold bars, 15 luxury watches and 13 branded handbags.
“Investigators have also frozen 12 company and individual accounts as part of the ongoing investigation,” the daily quoted a source as saying.
A day after, national oil corporation PETRONAS confirmed that one of its junior level executives has been arrested by the MACC on graft suspicion.
“To this end, PETRONAS has been working closely with the MACC since 2012 and will continue this collaboration to stamp out corruption within the group.
“The group has zero tolerance against corruption and will continue to leverage its internal mechanisms to prevent corrupt behaviour,” the national oil company was reported as saying.
Touching the central coordination system, Nurhayati said the Government must engage all stakeholders publicly before coming up with it to ensure everyone agrees with the system in place.
If the proposed reforms are implemented, she added, it would provide fiscal resilience for the GLCs and ensure a positive socio-economic impact on the Malaysian economy.
“I think people have forgotten why GLCs were set up in the first place. They were established to redevelop and bridge the economic gap among the rakyat.
“The core idea is when a GLC embarks on a project, its original purpose is to generate growth through strategic sectors. The revenue generated from this was supposed to be used to provide greater socio-economic relief to the people.
“That is why accountability in monitoring the projects embarked by our GLCs are of paramount importance. At the end of day, the onus falls back on the Government to ensure compliance,” Nurhayati explained.
Graft destroys a nation
On whether a permanent parliamentary select committee on GLCs should be established, Nurhayati replied in the positive.
“It is timely for a sub-committee or council to be formed, made up of Government and Opposition members, with limited functions specifically to offer an effective check and balance over GLCs dealing,” she noted.
Elaborating on the ills of corruption, Nurhayati said that the “war against graft” must become a concerted effort, aimed at preventing it before it happens.
She also said that misappropriation of funds, especially among GLCs, would affect the most vulnerable in the society.
“That is why I stress on reforms. If we don’t stop corruption in our GLCs, it will dent our economic efficiency and growth.
“In turn, it will undermine the Government’s social and welfare programmes, suppressing the people’s growth in the long-run,” Nurhayati remarked. – April 19, 2022
