KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has implemented targeted programmes involving government procurement, public funds or government allocations, and enforcement sectors throughout this year to prevent corrupt practices.
The programmes, said MACC community education division (PenMas) director Datuk Razim Mohd Noor, focused on issues such as cartels, leakage of government funds, violations of the law and inefficiencies in government revenue collection.
“As at April this year, 33 programmes with enforcement agencies have been held nationwide. A total of 74 programmes were also carried out with ministries and government agencies that are at risk and had received large allocations under Budget 2023,” he told Bernama recently.
Among the programmes is the MACC dialogue with the Public Works Department, which was held to ensure it continues practising good governance in project management.
At the same time, MACC, said Razim, took the initiative to spread the anti-corruption message through formal and informal education in public and private tertiary institutions as well as at primary and secondary schools in collaboration with the Education and Higher Education Ministries.
“Among these is the implementation of an elective Integrity and Anti-Corruption Course Module offered by all public and private tertiary institutions as well as a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) course for students taking certificate and diploma courses,” he said.
MACC, he said, was also targeting primary and secondary school students through its Wira Anti-Corruption (WAR) programme and themed competitions.
“At the higher education level, it includes clubs such as the Anti-Corruption Student Force (Amar), the MACC Chief Commissioner’s Cup IPT Debate competition, the Anti-Corruption Student Convention, the Amar Convention, and a series of dialogues between students and MACC officers.”
Razim said that at the community level, the anti-corruption message was delivered through programmes with a focus on certain target groups.
“For example, if it is a government agency, it targets civil servants, and if it is a socio-cultural branch, it targets the community and influential leaders in the community,” he said.
On the public’s perception and effectiveness of MACC’s programmes, Razim said 92.9% of the 6,471 respondents, comprising civil servants, students, private sector workers, members of the public and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), gave very positive feedback.
Of the respondents, 57.1% were civil servants; students (24.7%); private sector workers (11.9%); the general public (4.3%); and NGOs (1.9%).
MACC, he added, would also be introducing a Malaysian Corruption Survey in collaboration with the Statistics Department.
Razim said the survey would involve help from experts as well as technical assistance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes and academics from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
