Emphasis on education, public support in fight against corruption

Education and public support will be the focus of the Government Transformation Program (GTP) 2.0 National Key Result Area (NKRA) against corruption.

“This is because these two elements play important roles in the fight against corruption,” the division’s director, Datuk Hisham Nordin, said.

Speaking to reporters at a briefing with non-governmental organizations in Sabah, Hisham said the division did not place much focus on the elements of education and public support in the initial GTP.

“We have taken into consideration the success in Hong Kong and other countries which have placed emphasis on education and the public,” he said.

Hisham stressed that in preventing corruption, public support was one of the greatest elements (to its success) as it would ensure that the public would be more aware and better educated in matters concerning corruption offences.

“One of the programs the division will be implementing is a training for members of parliament where we will stress to the elected representatives about ethical values, the do’s and don’ts or moral values because there are certain things that could be legally right but not morally, resulting in the lack of confidence the rakyat may have on politicians,” he said.

According to Hisham, the training would be held at the next parliamentary session, and added: “God willing, if it is successful, we will extend it to state assemblymen and also politicians in the country.

When asked about the achievements of the NKRA against corruption, Hisham said the biggest one they scored was to be able to settle about 700 backlogged court cases within three years.

 “We started with almost 700 cases, and in three years we settled all. We also managed to ensure that court cases were settled within a year and this means that if an individual who is facing corruption charges is suspended from work or has his salary withheld, it will only be for one year, unlike the 8.5 years average in the past,” he said.

Hisham also added that under the government’s Whistleblower Protection Act, 72 people are now protected under this act since it was enforced in December 2010 after they came forward with information on corrupt practices.

“This reflects the people’s confidence and they trust the agencies as well as the system,” he said, adding: “This is what we want in our efforts to fight corruption because we have everything in place.

“We are also urging the private sector to have a Human Resource policy to complement the Whistleblower Protection Act as this is not only for the Government but for all Malaysians to use to ensure that their employees will not face action for coming forward with information on corruption in the work place,” he said.

Source: Borneo Post