Parliament in March expects  report on progress of action taken  against 585 civil servants found by ACA to be corrupt between 2002 and 2006

______________
Media Statement  
by Lim Kit Siang  
_________________

(Parliament, Friday) : Parliament in March expects a report on the progress of action taken against 585 civil servants found to be corrupt by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) but without enough proof to be brought to court.

Two weeks ago, the Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan  issued a directive to all directors-general giving them six months to take disciplinary action against  the 585 corrupt civil servants

The National Unity and Integration Department director-general Datuk Azman Amin Hassan  had revealed on Tuesday that at the Chief Secretary’s meeting with directors-general a fortnight ago, ACA officials tabled a report on 585 civil servants allegedly on the take between 2002 and 2006.

However, due to lack of evidence, they could not be produced in court.

ACA had recommended that disciplinary action, including demotion, transfer and salary freeze, be taken against those implicated in the cases.

If the directors-general fail to act within six months, their superiors or the Chief Secretary to the Government will instead take action against them.

What is the breakdown of these 585 civil servants according to Ministry and departments, their ranks as well as the nature of their corruption.

The ACA should give information on the total  number of  civil servants between 2002 and 2006 who were investigated resulting in its finding that 585 civil servants were corrupt although there was not enough proof to produce them in court, and the number of civil servants who have been charged in court and the outcome.

Most important and pertinent, what is the latest on the nabbing of the 18 “high-profile personalities”  for corruption which the country had been promised when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi first became Prime Minister, but which had fizzled out with the  “ikan yus” having  escaped the ACA dragnet.

(19/1/2007)