The Star - March 20, 2008

'More steps needed to fight graft'

By LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: Transparency International Malaysia is encouraged that the Prime Minister is serious about waging war against corruption but built-in systems against graft have to be beefed up to ensure public confidence.

Its president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said that while Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s instruction to Cabinet members to declare their assets is a big step forward, for it to be effective, several additional steps must be taken.

“Cabinet members should not only declare their assets but also liabilities and indicate their net worth.
This must apply to their wives and immediate family members,” he said.

Moreover, instead of declaring the assets and liabilities twice in five years, they should declare them every year because it might be too late for any action to be taken at the end of two-and-a-half years, he said.

Such standards should also apply to all MPs, state assemblymen and local authorities and the opposition states should also follow suit, he said.

“Preferably, the records should be scrutinised by an independent commission set up by the Government. This will give confidence to the people,” he said.

The commission could be in the form of an Ombudsman, he said.

“The public too must play a role in helping the Government fight corruption by reporting the crime, just as one reports robbery, murder and rape,” he said.

While the latter crimes affected individuals, corruption affected the whole society, he said.

“The Anti-Corruption Agency must also be an independent agency. Otherwise, the fight against corruption would not be taken seriously,” he said.