SHAH ALAM, 18 SEPT: The economic empowerment agenda cannot be channelled directly to the people if government programmes continue to be polluted by abuse of power and embezzlement by political leaders and staff involved.
The Seri Setia Assemblyman, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said that it is most unfortunate for the people if leaders and officers who are entrusted betray the trust given.
He was responding to the arrest of a former Member of the State Legislative Assembly on 13 September, after helping investigations regarding allegations of the misuse of funds from the Program Akhiri Zaman Miskin 1Azam (End the Age of Poverty Programme).
“It is an unfortunate thing for the country, especially for the people, when corruption is a common practice of leaders in this country.
“In fact, I believe that the people are not surprised by this revelation, because corruption among the nation’s leaders has previously been exposed by many international bodies, including government agencies,” he explained.
The 1Azam Programme is a pilot programme which is managed by the Ministry of Women’s Development, Family and Community, and targets for the hardcore poor to go through skills training and provide employment opportunities.
Regarding the arrest, Nik Nazmi hopes that justice will be upheld and appropriate punishment will be imposed on the corruption offenders.
“Congratulations to MACC’s job and I hope that in the event that the case is strong, the attorney general will take appropriate action so that justice is obtained.
“We do not want previous weaknesses to repeat, before this the MACC brought up several corruption cases, but when it reached the Attorney General, no prosecution was carried out,” he explained when contacted by TVSelangor.
