PUTRAJAYA: Corruption cases resulting in leakages of government procurement involving civil servants are seen to be increasingly critical, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki said.
He said 50% of such cases involve government agencies.
“I can say that, based on an MACC analysis, such wastages are common in the public sector, where those who are in power in deciding a matter (government procurement) are involved in misappropriation and abuse of power.
“When there is a leakage of government procurement, our investigation shows that there is an element of corruption that causes a certain value of government procurement to rise,” he told Bernama in conjunction with the 53rd MACC anniversary today.
Azam said if a government procurement is worth RM1 million then the value of corruption will also increase.
“It is not only that the value of corruption increases, it also affects the quality of the project. For example, the latest case involving a road upgrade project in Sarawak, where the quality of the project has been reduced so that it is prone to damage and causes a loss of millions of ringgit to the government.”
Azam said MACC needed to have experts in the field and to work with the Public Works Department (JKR).
In early September, it was reported that MACC had arrested two directors of a company with the title of Datuk suspected of corruption and submitting false claims worth tens of millions of ringgit in connection with the implementation of 10 road upgrading projects in Sarawak worth RM800 million.
Asked whether such cases occurred in the private sector, Azam said MACC had received reports involving the private sector but the number was not as worrying as in the public sector.
“MACC’s intention is to investigate both parties (public and private sectors) if it involves government procurement and to bring them to court,” he said.
Commenting on efforts to turn Malaysia into a corruption-free country, Azam said it demanded that MACC be mature in all its actions involving enforcement, prevention and community education in combating corruption.
“Presently, as we observe new norms in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic, and also for the next few years, the situation poses challenges to MACC in its struggle towards zero corruption or creating a corruption-free society.
“Before Covid-19, MACC went out into the field to give briefings and conduct campaigns against corruption in the community, but since the outbreak, we have been using video and social media approaches,” he said.
He said MACC has also included an element of anti-corruption education in the textbook of Year Five students, which will come into effect next year. -FMT