Perak screens nominees for state awards — Zambry
IPOH: The screening carried out on potential recipients of Perak state awards is to ensure that the nominees are free of corrupt practices and criminal involvement, said Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.
He said the process was a standard practice by the Perak state government so that the nominees were truly eligible for the awards.
“The candidates will undergo several screenings namely the police screening to ensure that they are not involved in any criminal activities, secret society and so on and secondly, to determine that they are not bankrupt.
“While the third screening is to determine that the candidate is not involved in any case concerning the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission ( MACC),” he told reporters after chairing the State Exco meeting, here yesterday.
He was commenting on the statement by the MACC on Tuesday that the agency was prepared to study the need for the MACC to screen the nominees for state awards in the country to ensure that only individuals who were qualified were given the awards.
According to Zambry, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah was certainly firm and very concerned about the list of nominees for the medals and awards conferred by the state.
“We notice that in Perak, the number of recipients (for medals and state awards) is small because Tuanku (Sultan Nazrin) had said that only those who truly deserved the awards are honoured,” he said.
When asked whether the state government would withdraw the awards conferred to individuals who were involved in corrupt practices and crime, Zambry said “Yes, if such things happen, Sultan Nazrin Shah instructed that the awards given be withdrawn.”
“This is to ensure that recipients of medals and awards in the state truly deserve them and are not involved in any activity that contravenes the country’s laws,” he said.
Several recipients of state awards carrying the title ‘Datuk’ and ‘ Datuk Seri’ were said to be involved in secret society activities recently. — Bernama