SHAH ALAM, June 8 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke today said civil servants do not have to resort to corruption to get more money.
Calling on civil servants not to go rogue, he said Malaysia would have “tremendous” economic growth, which would in turn enable the government to provide them with better pay and benefits if corruption were curbed.
“Let’s have a higher income the halal way,” he said during a memorandum of understanding signing event between the Port Klang Authority, government agencies and other maritime industry stakeholders to strengthen collaboration in fighting corruption.
“Of course everyone wants better income, a better life, but let’s do this with integrity,” he added at the event that was held at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton in i-City here.
The event also doubled as a congratulatory ceremony for the Port Klang Authority receiving an International Organization for Standardisation Certificate of Compliance for Anti-Bribery Management Systems.
Loke said that the government wants to assure the business community that they will not need to pay for corruption to do business in Malaysia.
“We are here to facilitate that business can be conducted in a friendly manner and with integrity,” he said.
In February Selangor Anti-Corruption Commission director, Datuk Alias Salim said that civil servants were the biggest group detained by the commission for investigations into corruption, irregularities and abuse of power between 2018 and 2022.
Citing the commission’s records, Alias said 170 civil servants were arrested during that period, followed by 84 private workers, 50 civilians and five each involving politicians and individuals from government-linked companies.
In the same news conference, Loke said that investigations were still ongoing regarding an incident yesterday where 13 shipping containers caught fire in the North Port of Klang.
He said he could not confirm or deny speculations that the incident involved falsely declared goods pending the completion of investigations.
“If there were indeed false declarations, that is an irresponsible decision, thus we will need to take strict action against the involved parties,” he said.
