Pakatan Rakyat leaders slammed as mere rhetoric an announcement by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that they will start opening files to investigate 36 cases of corruption involving government’s departments and agencies.
"These discrepancies keep repeating every year even though the Auditor-General Report has issued stern warnings. It is very unfortunate that every time the Auditor-General Report is released, we see no further action is taken by MACC against those suspected of corruption,” Lau Weng San, the DAP MP for Kampung Tunku.
Cases from 2006 still unsolved
He pointed out that if the MACC was sincere, it would have solved many corruption cases by now rather than have outstanding files dating back from 2006.
In 2006, among the wrongdoings reported by the Auditor-General were the purchase of a pen worth RM160 for RM1,146, which is RM986 more than the actual retail price.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports had also bought a car-jack that normally would have cost only RM50 but the department paid RM 1,664 instead.
How then can Malaysians depend on the MACC, Lau asked, when cases as far back as five years ago are still unsolved, he asked.
Act sternly without fear or favour
For cases involving over-spending by top government leaders, the MACC's progress was even worse. “Are we to hope that civil servants at the lower-level are not over-spending?” asked Kampung Tunku state assemblyman.
“MACC must be stern and seen as credible in their duty. If not, civil servants will not feel obliged to follow when the Chief of the Auditor-General issued any warning,” said Lau.
The Auditor's General Report for 2010 was delayed and finally released for tabling at Parliament only after a 17-day wait. More than 32 ministries and federal departments were found to have mismanaged their finances.
Malaysia Chronicle
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