Tough questions show up Paul Low's INEFFECTIVENESS in tackling govt corruption

As Putrajaya continues to grapple with reports of leakages and graft, Datuk Paul Low said today a Governance and Integrity Committee‎ (Jitu) will be set up in every ministry and state government to spearhead "transformation" in the public sector.

But he said each Jitu will be headed by the respective minister and menteri besar, a move that may spark concerns over the independence and efficiency of the committees.

"We want to set up a government framework to help in the transformation process. We want to make sure change are not just at the top level of government, but right down to ground zero," Low told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

This drew a sharp response from a senior journalist present at the press conference.

The Sun's senior editor R. Nadeswaran questioned how the ministry could place "tainted men" like the Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, Datuk Seri Hasan Malek, to be in charge of an integrity committee.

"You're asking the minister to chair it, but the minister himself is writing letters to Bank Rakyat to close the case," he said, referring to Hasan's alleged interference in a RM32 million Bank Rakyat loan to controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan.

"How is this going to work... it defeats the whole purpose of an integrity committee," Nadeswaran said.

Low, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, attempted to downplay the matter, saying it will be dealt with, but Nadeswaran pointed out the ramifications could be huge.

"When you cast in concrete that only a minister can chair it, then when you find a crooked or tainted minister, how can they continue?" asked the veteran journalist.

Low said this was remedied by his own role as the co-chair for almost all the integrity committee‎s, despite the vast number that Putrajaya intends to set up.

"Most of the chairing will be done jointly by me, together," Low said.

"Most of the meetings, we will jointly chair. In fact we had past meetings, in all ministries‎. Myself and minister will be chairing it."

Low revealed he would also be in charge of chairing the Governance and Integrity National Committee.

Meanwhile, Low said today that Jitu would be effective immediately, ‎and was part of the "government transformation strategy to combat corruption in the public sector".

"‎The direction we propose will be radical, but changes will be incremental. We may not see changes immediately, but we hope change will come in time, ministry by ministry," said Low.

Datuk Paul Low

Jitu will advocate the creation of integrity units with certified integrity officers (CeIO) in all government ministries, departments and major agencies, he said.

"As the Jitu secretariat, this Integrity Unity will act as the focal point for all matters related to governance and integrity‎, working closely with their chief secretaries and internal auditors to implement measurable, long-term solutions," said Low.

‎The role of the internal auditor would also be enhanced, as they would meet with the minister or the auditor-general if necessary, and work closely with integrity officers to identify governance and integrity-related issues, said Low.

Low added that Jitu would be answerable to the national council, which could directly report to the Cabinet to take immediate action on a certain case.

"‎I hope to see real tangible results coming through... we will have less leakages, wastage, less solicitation of bribe, we should have better implementation of management, better quality of goods.

"There will be more projects that is based on value for money, and less issues of the middleman or go-between," said Low.

But he said there was no specific method to measure Jitu's progress, as they would just refer to Transparency International Malaysia's (TI-M) annual corruption perceptions index (CPI)

In December last year, TI-M announced that Malaysia scored 50 out of 100 points in its global annual CPI.

Malaysia ranked 53rd out of 177 countries, improving by one point compared with 2012 when it scored 49 and was ranked 54th.

Malaysia was ranked third among Asean countries, with Singapore topping the regional list and ranking fifth place out of the 177 countries.

TI-M’s top concerns were selective investigation and prosecution, and the lack of convictions in “high profile” cases.

It also focused on the lack of open tenders or competitive bidding in the awarding of privatisation and major projects. –TMI