Safety concerns preventing civil servants from reporting graft, says Cuepacs

 FMT

Faiz Zainudin

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December 9, 2020 9:22 AM 27

PETALING JAYA: Cuepacs says concerns over the safety of civil servants and being marginalised are among the reasons why very few of them dare to report corruption in their department or agencies.

Cuepacs president Adnan Mat said civil servants worry that they might be the target of certain parties, especially if their report on possible corruption is not met with appropriate action by the authorities.

“The civil servants’ main concern is their safety if they report corruption and abuse of power. They’re not confident in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) and their own department’s guarantee that their identity won’t be revealed.

“They’re also worried of being marginalised and being sidelined in their department if their identity is revealed because it will be viewed as tarnishing the reputation of their department.

So, department heads and authorities must take each report seriously and, at the same time, ensure that the safety of complainants is protected,” Adnan told FMT.

MACC deputy chief commissioner Shamshun Baharin Mohd Jamil yesterday said only 0.01% of the 1.6 million civil servants were brave enough to report on corrupt practices in their departments and agencies.

He said only 343 civil servants came forward to provide information on corrupt practices between 2012 and last year, adding that this was despite the various incentives provided.

However, Adnan said the rewards and incentives offered by the government and MACC to whistleblowers were not a priority for civil servants to report any abuse or irregularities in the public sector.

He also said the low number of reports filed cannot be concluded to mean that civil servants were not interested in curbing corruption.

“At this time, the service and administration system in government departments have gone through so many upgrades that it makes it difficult to commit any misconduct.

“We have the National Audit Department, then each department has its own audit units or departments, that will ensure that every procurement or programme is done according to the set standards.

“When the system functions well, it will be hard for misconduct to be committed. MACC themselves needs to go to the ground more often to implement education and prevention programmes,” he said, adding that this would raise awareness on the channels available to lodge complaints.