SHAH ALAM, July 10: Claims that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration is successful and excellent in its effort to combat the corruption index is clearly not true with the exposure of the latest Global Transparency International Barometer Malpractices study.
The international non-governmental organisation (NGO) found that only 30 percent of the respondents believe that the efforts by the government to combat corruption is effective, compared to the 49 percent in year 2011.
From the results of the study which was exposed, DAP Publicity Secretary, Tony Pua said that this shows that Malaysians now are increasingly literate and aware that behind the beautiful spiel regarding the National Key Result Areas (NKRA), in actual fact, not much has truly changed.
“The people are well aware of the action imposed on a corrupt individual who is rich powerful and has a political interest while all efforts are used to investigate opposition politicians and civic minded individuals,” stressed Tony Pua in a media statement.
More disappointing is the high allocation given to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has not yielded results as hoped compared to the allocation which was spent on the Anti-Corruption Agency (BPR) a decade ago.
Tony Pua added that in year 2008, before Tun Abdullah Badawi handed over the reins of the administration to Najib, Malaysia was ranked 47th in the world with an estimate of provisions of about RM146.7 million.
Ironically, in year 2012, after large-scale renewal was done to the MACC with an increased budget of RM211 million, Malaysia is now ranked 56th in the world.
“This seems to show that more provisions and resource given to the MACC has made Malaysia more corrupt,” he said.
In this regard, Tony Pua, who is also the Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara, urged the Prime Minister to be ready to take action against those who have been proven guilty of malpractices.
Tony Pua’s insistence is seen in reference to the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal worth RM250 million which was previously given to the family of the Wanita Umno Chief, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil when she held office as a Cabinet Minister.
The Central Government recently decided to appoint a third party to manage projects which previously were associated with Shahrizat’s family.
Although facing a conflict of interest and clear non-transparency, the MACC concluded that no offences may be convicted against Shahrizat.
Yesterday, the PKR Strategy Director, Rafizi Ramli claimed that the appointment of the third party shows that public funds worth RM163 million spent in the NFC project can be considered as forfeited and cannot be claimed.
