MACC begins probe on Audit Report

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — A total of 13 investigations papers (KS), 14 preliminary investigation papers (KPA) and five examination and consultation (KPP) papers have been initiated following the release of the 2009 Auditor-General’s report, said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today.
The MACC said that out of the 13 investigation papers that the commission had started probing, three were opened in Johor, six within the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya, two in Terengganu, and one each in Sarawak and Selangor.

“The MACC has reviewed the contents of the 2009 Auditor-General’s report which was tabled in Parliament on October 25, 2010.

“The Commission has begun its investigations on many of the issues raised in the report based on various public complaints and feedback,” said MACC in an official statement today.

Besides that, the breakdown for the 14 preliminary investigation papers are as follows — six cases were opened in Perak, two in Labuan, Sabah, Kedah, and one each in Terengganu and Selangor.

“Meanwhile for the five examination and consultation papers that have been opened, three were in Johor, and one case each was opened in Labuan and Sarawak,” said the MACC.

MACC’s statement today comes after it was announced today that Malaysia had a slightly lower dip in Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) this year after the country experienced its worse ranking ever last year.

The anti-graft watchdog TI announced today that the country’s corruption index score declined from 4.5 to 4.4 out of 10, with 10 being the least corrupt. Malaysia’s ranking still remains the same as last year, at 56 out of 178 countries.

The annual TI CPI measures how corrupt a country is in the public sector based on data sourced from 13 different polls and surveys from 10 independent institutions over a period of two years. The three least corrupt countries in the world are, in order, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore.

Malaysia’s previous worst scores below 5 were 4.8 in 2000, 4.9 in 2002 and 4.5 last year.

The country’s ranking puts it on par with Namibia and Turkey.

Despite government efforts to fight corruption, MACC’s inability to prosecute “big fish,” lack of progress in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco, no action by the Attorney-General in the “Lingam tapes” case and contracts without open tender have continued to affect public perception.