KLANG PORT, Oct 4 — Almost 80 per cent of complaints received by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) against its officers and personnel are related to corruption, said its director-general Datuk Seri Paddy Abd Halim.

However, he said the statistics were based solely on the number of complaints received, but that did not necessarily indicate that the department staff were heavily involved in corruption.

"This perception (that JKDM is involved in corruption) does not have to be valid, but these are the kinds of complaints we receive. However, we evaluate every complaint made and then bring it up to the disciplinary board. If found guilty, action can be taken against the officer and they can even be sacked.

"Complaints received by our (JKDM) integrity division recorded 14 cases (related to corruption) in the last two years,” he said when speaking at the launch of the Anti-Corruption Customs Campaign at West Port here today.

Also present was the chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Latheefa Koya.

Paddy also reminded all department staff and the public that the department was serious in dealing with corruption, asking them to stop such practices immediately.

Paddy said that the Integrity branch often carried out ‘naziran’ programmes where staff must come to terms and realise that such (corrupt) actions were wrong.

In addition, he urged all parties including JKDM members to immediately report to the relevant agencies if they knew of such corrupt activities so that they could be prevented.

Paddy later told the media that the statistics on the number of complaints had served as a benchmark for the department to monitor and take on more decisive actions against its staff, if they were found guilty of such acts.

"We will certainly take action (if it can be proven that corruption exists among those in the department)... Not that we do not care. In fact, the action will be evaluated by the department’s integrity division and will involve the MACC, if necessary,” he said. — Bernama