Lower ranking staffs afraid to report on corruption

SHAH ALAM - Having the power to decide how projects are awarded to chosen individuals is seen as one of the reasons why high-ranking government officials tend to take bribes.

Selangor, Federal Territories, and Putrajaya State Rasuah Busters chairman Professor Dr Hamdan Daniel M Sharib said the lack of courage from those in lower ranks to report on the actions was one of the reasons why it was easy for high-ranking individuals to perform the crime.

"They may have too much power to the point where it was difficult for others to file a complaint or take appropriate actions as they feared the actions that would be taken on them and such.

"The power to approve a project or provide a tender at their discretion creates the opportunity and space for high-ranking officers to be involved in corruption," he told Sinar Ahad.

He commented that the revelation made by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki regarding the involvement of grade 54 civil servants in corruption was worrying.

Malaysia Ikram Organisation president Badlishah Sham Baharin viewed them as having too much ‘room and opportunity’ to be corrupt.

He explained that if the grade 54 civil servants were the highest grade in a group of management and professionals, they were also usually the department operations directors of ministries and government agencies.

"Their involvement in the decision-making process is affected if they are influenced by outside parties, especially in the process of obtaining assets," he said.