Mohd Shukri: More people providing quality info now
PETALING JAYA: More people are coming forward to provide quality information and good leads to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), said chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull.
He said this could be a “coincidence” with the change of government and members of the public were now brave enough to whistleblow.
“Even those within organisations are willing to come out. This is a good sign for Malaysia. And it makes things easier with the strong government support and the political will to fight corruption,” he said in an interview with Bernama Radio yesterday.
Mohd Shukri admitted that while there were MACC officers who were aligned to or supported certain political parties, their integrity is unquestionable when it comes to corruption cases.
“There are officers who are light blue (PKR), dark blue (Barisan Nasional), red ( DAP or Pribumi) and green (PAS) but when it comes to work, my officers are committed and neutral in their investigations,” he said, adding there were times when certain people are investigated, it is MACC that is condemned.
He said these people should actually pressure the person facing the graft allegations instead of targeting investigators.
“This does not happen in other developed countries. If a leader is investigated by an antigraft body, the people will support it and even pressure that leader to step down,” he said.
Mohd Shukri said the MACC had arrested almost 350 people and frozen or confiscated RM2.5bil cash over the past four months.
Meanwhile, Mohd Shukri said his officers involved in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) probe have been working round the clock every day for the past four months.
“We only have fewer than 500 investigation officers throughout the country. Those involved in the 1MDB probe have been busy before the fasting month until now. Seven days a week including public holidays. They have been working non-stop,” he said.
He hoped that the process to hire 500 new officers over the next five years could be expedited. It was approved by the government recently.
He said that MACC also needed advanced and state-of-the-art equipment.
“What we have now is out of date. This year, there is no allocation for us for asset procurement. We need to be at least one or two steps ahead of these perpetrators who are using all kinds of new modus operandi,” he said.
Mohd Shukri also said his only wish was to see Malaysia becoming a country with zero corruption before he dies.
“I won’t be with MACC long as I’m on contract. When my time comes, I want MACC to be famous and to be an international benchmark,” he said.
There are officers who are light blue (PKR), dark blue (Barisan Nasional), red (DAP or Pribumi) and green (PAS) but when it comes to work, my officers are committed and neutral in their investigations.