All Customs employees to take integrity test

Customs director-general T Subromaniam says the test will gauge the transparency attitude of an individual according to the job scope, especially for placement, promotion and to assess the personal ability of staff.

MELAKA: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department will require all its employees to sit for an Integrity Evaluation Test to gauge the transparency attitude of the individual according to the job scope, especially for placement, promotion and to assess the personal ability of staff.

Customs Department director-general T Subromaniam said the test, which would be conducted by the Integrity Institute of Malaysia and Mimos, would be carried out in stages as it involved a huge expenditure for its staff of more than 14,000 people.

He said the department needed to spend RM180 for each employee to sit for the test and the implementation of the test would depend on the availability of allocation.

“The Customs Department is the first enforcement agency in the country to carry out the test.

“We hope the test will enhance the integrity of the department and its image in the community.

“To date, 116 grade WK19 assistant Customs superintendents and WK48 Customs officers appointed this year had sat for the test,” he told reporters after closing the Grade WK19 Assistant Customs Superintendent Basic Course here today.

Also present were Customs deputy director-general (Management) Hasnol Zam Zam Ahmad, Customs deputy director-general (Customs and GST) Paddy Abd Halim and Royal Malaysian Customs Academy (Akmal) director Azimah Abd Hami.

A total of 116 grade WK19 assistant Customs superintendents completed their 12-week training which began in May at Akmal in Ayer Keroh here.

Commenting further, Subromaniam said integrity was the key to success and achievement of an organisation and it was not limited to acts of corruption, but also involved attitude or behaviour which could tarnish the trust of the people in the organisation.

He said last year, the department’s disciplinary board handled 105 disciplinary cases involving six main offences such as absence from work (43 cases), corruption and abuse of power (24 cases), not complying with Customs procedures (10 cases), drug abuse ((8 cases) as well as violating the code of conduct (20 cases).

“A total of 67 employees were found guilty and 32 of them were sacked. I want to stress here that the department will not tolerate indiscipline among employees,” he said.

In another development, he said the department had begun internal investigations relating to the detention of six Customs employees and a senior officer by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at KL International Airport (KLIA) and Pahang recently.

Asked whether they would be transferred to another unit in the department, he said that measure would not solve the problem. Instead, firm action, including termination, would be taken against those found guilty.

“We are still waiting for MACC to complete its investigations and all of them are still remanded to assist investigations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Subromaniam also launched a bullet shell disposal gadget known as G-Song, which could assist the department to save about RM302,000 in expenditure annually.

He said the innovative product made by Customs and Akmal employees at a cost of RM4,000 would be commercialised soon.

“Apart from saving expenditure, as the department is paying someone to crush spent bullet shells, it also saves time,” he said. - FMT