House cleaning’s not over

Penang JPJ likely to see third round of MACC arrests

PUTRAJAYA : After arresting 46 Penang Road Transport Department (JPJ) enforcement officers, graft busters are not done with “cleaning up” the office.

A third round of arrests is expected for officers believed to be on the take from lorry companies and drivers.

Sources said that as many as 75 officers from the Penang JPJ are believed to be involved in giving “protection” to lorry drivers who committed offences while plying the state roads.

“We have done two rounds of arrests and another one is in the works. We have zero tolerance for civil servants on the take,” a source told The Star.

Yesterday saw the arrest of another 22 JPJ officers after a successful raid on April 16 netted 24 people.

In the second round, the men, aged between 32 and 55, were arrested at the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission’s (MACC) Penang office between 11am and 4.15pm.

Sources said all of them were believed to have received a “monthly payment” of RM10,000 in total.

“We suspect that the accumulated amount received by this group has reached RM140,000 to date,” said the source.

The suspects will be brought to court before a magistrate in George Town today.

In the earlier operation, the officers were believed to have received a “monthly allowance” of between RM10,000 and RM32,000 as an inducement to not take action against lorry drivers as well as to provide tip-offs on operations carried out by the department.

They are under remand for seven days until Tuesday to help in the MACC investigations.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Azam Baki said the commission would call the state JPJ director and top management to help in the investigations into corruption cases involving the department officers if necessary.

“We will collect evidence and obtain verification, and if necessary, call the senior officers,” he told the media after opening a shooting competition at the Kajang Prison College.