KUALA LUMPUR: Horror stories of how the government wastes public funds like those in the annual Auditor-General’s reports will continue as long as there is no law to deal with misconduct in the public service, said a panel that oversees the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The MACC’s operations evaluation panel said there has been no follow-up on the commission’s proposal two years ago for Putrajaya to introduce such a law.

A law specifically to deal with misconduct would make senior civil servants liable for leakage and misuse of public funds if this occurred in their department and among their subordinates, said chairman Tan Sri Dr Hadenan Abdul Jalil.

The law is similar to the Corporate Liability Act, which makes companies liable to be charged with corruption that was committed by their staff.

A public service misconduct law was first mooted two years ago by MACC chief Tan Sri Abd Kassim Mohamed to bring errant public servants to book.

Hadenan said most cases in the AG’s reports were not due to corruption but to carelessness among civil servants in charge of procurement and the use of funds.

“I call on everyone to pressure the government to introduce such a law in Parliament,” he said in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. 

Hadenan said current laws and regulations to deal with errant civil servants were not strict enough and many were let off with mere administrative warnings.

“The panel believes such a law is important in acting against civil servants who have no integrity and who are derelict in their duties but in many cases cannot be charged under existing corruption laws,” Hadenan said.

He said although there were many cases in which the MACC had recommended that the government take action against civil servants who could not be brought to court, many of these administrative punishments were too light.

For instance, between 2012 and 2014, the MACC investigated 688 cases involving public servants and recommended that action be taken against them by their respective agencies and departments.

Of the 688 cases, about one-third of them or 288, ended with only warnings. Other punishments included fines (69), delayed salary increments (36), salary demotions (31), terminations (25) and retraction of emolument rights (16).

The panel comprises professionals from diverse fields who function as a check and balance on the commission’s investigations.

Hadenan said in the past six years, the MACC’s public image has improved and more people are lodging complaints with the commission.

“However about 60% of the complaints we received have nothing to do with corruption.”

At the same time, many of the cases under investigation could not be brought to court because of a lack of evidence and witnesses, he said, without giving any statistics.

“The commitment of people in the MACC cannot be questioned. People accused MACC of being selective on who we investigate. Now no more.”

Hadenan also refuted the perception that the commission discriminated between high- and low-profile cases.

“We as a panel is independent and are not influenced by any external parties.” — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 13, 2015.