KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 418 government servants were arrested by the Malaysian-Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) last year, it was revealed at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said 140 of them have been brought to court to face charges.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (PH-Tanah Merah) on the number of civil servants who have been arrested and charged for involvement in graft through the whole of 2018.
On a supplementary question on whether the government intends to limit the number of years a civil servant is allowed in a particular position or state to avoid corruption, Mohamed Hanipa said there was currently no such plan.
He said the current placement process based on time suitability and vacancy would remain, and that any moves otherwise would only take place if the situation called for it.
“At the moment, there are no plans (to reshuffle government staff). Although we admit that there is justification for such a move, we still feel that the situation now is under control.
“The current procedure will go on, unless the situation becomes desperate,” he said.
Mohamed Hanipa added that the government would continue with efforts introduced by the previous administration to fight graft as long as they bring positive changes.
This included the setting of an Integrity Unit in each government ministry and agency as had been previously introduced by Barisan Nasional (BN).
“Whatever good policies that were introduced by the previous government, we have no problem to continue with it. But I’m just curious, how come so many efforts were taken then but yet corruption was rampant,” he said, referring to the various graft charges that have been slapped on several BN leaders.
