The Star - Oct 17, 2008

Anti-graft Bill on agenda

THE Cabinet will discuss the Anti-Corruption Commission Bill today.
Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said he had received and signed the memorandum on the Bill and would forward it to the Cabinet for discussion.

“However, the Bill on the Judicial Appointments Commission is not ready yet. It will take some time before this can be brought to the Cabinet,” said Nazri.

“I have already asked Parliament to ensure these two Bills as well as the Witness Protection Bill be put on the priority list and be passed during this meeting,” he told reporters after attending the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Hari Raya open house at the Putrajaya International Con­vention Centre here yesterday.

On Wednesday, Nazri said the Dewan Rakyat meeting, scheduled to end on Dec 11, would be extended four more days until Dec 19 to accommodate these Bills.

The Bills were part of the re­­forms that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has promised to deliver before stepping down in March.

ACA director-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan said the Anti-Corruption Commission Bill would also enable the commission to recruit more experienced professionals.

“At present, we have to accept and train the staff sent from the Public Services Department. The setting-up of the commission means we can even recruit people on a contractual basis,” he said, adding that the ACA hoped to recruit an extra 5,000 personnel members.

On another matter, Ahmad said the agency had not received any report from the chairman of a Russian helicopter firm who claimed that there had been discrepancies in the Defence Minis­try’s recent purchase of new Eurocopters helicopters for the national air force.

“We will look into the matter although there is no report from the person involved,” he said.
“We will probe according to information we obtained from the blogs,” he said.