Kudos to Petronas for cracking down on graft, Transparency International says

TRANSPARENCY International Malaysia (TI-M) heaped laurels on Petronas Group CEO and president Tengku Muhammad Taufik for having zero tolerance approach over corruption.  

“We laud the stern message and action from Petronas’ management, as well as referring the case to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).  

“Thus, we also call on all on government-linked companies (GLCs) and private sector heads to take a tough stand against their staffs and associates who are involved in graft at their establishments,” its president Muhammad Mohan said, in a statement.  

On Nov 28, The Edge reported Taufik issuing a stern warning on his employees against corrupt practises in an internal video that went viral.  

The head honcho of Petronas issued the message following a corruption probe which saw nine of its officials getting the boot from the national oil company.  

“Let me speak plainly. It is deeply disheartening to have the stench of this corruption emerge in this trying period, even as many of you have made sacrifices and continued to work diligently, through an extremely challenging time to keep us resilient. 

“The cost of corruption affects our entire business ecosystem. It compromises the safety of our assets, safety of our colleagues; elevates the cost of our day-to-day operations, inflates project deliveries, and perhaps more sadly, it utterly destroys our reputation,” Taufik was reported as saying.  

Legal reforms alone won’t work  

On that note, Muhammad Mohan said that TI-M had been pushing for legal reforms such as the amendment to Section 17A of Corporate Liability Provision as well as the proposed Deferred Prosecution Agreement as steps to curb and penalise corruption in the private sector. 

He added that while the onus falls on company directors, it was also important for a company’s management and its shareholders to take active steps in preventing corruption in their establishments.  

“The fight against corruption, kickbacks, bribery and other unethical methods of doing business cannot be won solely by legal reforms and stacking up expectations on law enforcement agencies. 

“It must be fought from within the corporate sector as well, where contracts, assets and money lie,” Muhammad Mohan stressed.  

As for the Petronas corruption case, the TI-M official remarked: “We will be following the developments closely as this is a public interest case involving one of our most prized national assets and source of income. – Dec 3, 2021.  

 

Photo credit: NST

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