KUALA LUMPUR, June 27- All special officers to the cabinet ministers will be required to undergo a vetting process with the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan.
He said this was to ensure good governance and increased transparency among the special officers.
The matter had been agreed at the Delivery Task Force (DTF) Anti-Corruption NKRA (National Key Result Area) Meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin earlier yesterday.
The meeting was also attended by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa and MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed.
“The role of special officers is an important one as in some cases, they act as gatekeepers to the respective ministers and are privy to highly confidential information.
“It will also be a requirement for the special officers to declare their assets annually to the prime minister, respective ministers and the MACC chief commissioner,” Low said in a statement, here, today.
He said by putting these measures in place, opportunities for misconduct to occur would be minimised.
Low said today’s meeting also approved the appointment of the International Advisory Board to MACC, which was tasked to provide advice and review the NKRA initiatives, specifically under MACC’s transformation of its Prevention sector.
He said members of the board would include high-profile individuals from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of New South Wales and Hong Kong.
“The intention of the board is to benchmark MACC’s performance to be on par with international best practices and to improve international perception towards the MACC,” he added.
– BERNAMA
