PETALING JAYA: The Road Transport Department (RTD) has vowed to take stern action, including dismissal, against its officers if they are found to be involved in corruption.
“We will take disciplinary action, including sacking, should our officers be found guilty,” it said in response to a report alleging that the practice of graft was common among its staff.
The department said it views the report by Malaysiakini titled “Institutionalised Corruption in RTD Grips Logistics Industry, Turns Clean Firms Dirty” seriously, and would not compromise on the matter.
It added that a report would also be made to the relevant authorities for further action.
“In the meantime, RTD hopes all quarters will cooperate with us in combating corruption in the department to ensure that we are graft-free, in line with the aspiration for a Clean Malaysia,” it said in a statement today.
The report by the online portal, which was published this morning, alleged that many RTD officers nationwide are soliciting bribes from logistics companies, despite the arrests of 46 enforcement officers from the Penang RTD involved in a corruption racket in April of last year.
The news report claimed that companies that flout the law, including by overloading lorries, are told to make monthly payments as protection from the enforcers, apart from other ad-hoc payments during roadblocks.
It was also reported that some companies lose up to 30% of their monthly revenues by paying bribes to the RTD officers.
Companies that go by the book and refuse to make payments will have their lives made difficult, with officers harassing them, accusing them of overloading, and holding them up by asking for their lorries to be weighed, resulting in delays in delivery deadlines, the report added.
