MIRI: The result for Malaysia in Transparency International (TI)’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking shows that corruption level in the country continues to deteriorate, observes Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon.
The nation ranked a score of 52 in 2014 but gradually, it went down to 50 in 2015, 49 in 2016, and 47 last year.
In CPI 2017, Malaysia placed 62nd among 180 countries in the index.
The CPI scores and ranks are determined by the perceived level of corruption in one country’s public sector on a scale from zero (perceived to be highly corrupted) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).
“Some people may think that the CPI is only a perception – they are not real.
“However, it’s pretty obvious to us that the CPI score for Malaysia has been going down year after year.
“This may be due to the many corruption scandals exposed by the Pakatan Harapan (PH), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah),” Dr Ting told reporters during a press conference at DAP Miri headquarters yesterday, where he also brought up a case of a RM500,000 Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) project to upgrade a 9km road-crossing concrete drains in Baram.
According to him, the contractor who received the project tried to get a sub-contractor but openly requested a 27-per cent commission, with RM50,000 to be paid up-front.
“This is why our infrastructure is so bad – the value of the project is high but the (workmanship) quality is very poor because the money has been siphoned from the RM500,000 originally contracted.
“This is the first contractor; we then have other sub-contractors which may result in the project to probably worth just RM150,000 in the end. I know where the project is – it is in the District of Baram.
“To me, this is corruption,” stressed Dr Ting, adding that such situation must be rectified to avoid the country’s corruption index from plummeting further.
He also acknowledged that 200 civil servants here had pledged their anti-corruption oath during a recent ceremony.
“I think that the Barisan Nasional (BN) is trying to do this anti-corruption pledge everywhere, but the core problem is still there. This (corruption) is similar to a human body with cancer everywhere – you just cannot cure them anymore.
“You have to change the person and change everything. Hopefully in this coming general election, we could change the government,” said Dr Ting, pointing out that a PH-led government – should the opposition pact win the polls – would have an independent Attorney General’s Chamber and an independent Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which would be a great step towards improving the CPI score for Malaysia.
“These two independent bodies (AG Chamber and MACC) will be reporting to Parliament directly, not to the prime minister. I think this would be a good and definite step to improve our CPI score,” he added.
State DAP secretary Alan Ling and other DAP Miri members were also present at the press conference.