DAP 'graftbusters' to fight corruption

Malaysiakini | Soon Li Tsin | Apr 23, 08 2:33pm

There is new team in town that aims to fighting corruption - meet the DAP’s ‘graftbuster’ squad.

At a press conference today, several DAP politicians announced that the team will complement the work of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) in accepting complaints from the public.

Segambut parliamentarian Lim Lip Eng said complaints may be e-mailed to members of the team together with evidence, to enable checks to be conducted.

He said the scope of complaints accepted will include everything except malpractice in commercial transactions, as this would be better handled by the police commercial crimes department.

“We are targeting mainly (complaints about) civil servants and the past (state) governments. We don’t want bare evidence, we want corroborated proof,” he said in Petaling Jaya today.

Also present were other members of the team - Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo and Kampung Tunku state representative Lau Weng San.

“We will work with the ACA, Royal Malaysia Police and the public complaints bureau in the Prime Minister’s Department,” Lim said.

“Once we gather all the evidence and proof, we will forward it to those departments and we’ll follow up closely. If no action is taken, we will disclose it further (to the public).”

Pua said the team will deal with the increasing number of people who wish to send them documents that indicate corruption.

“I think those (complaints) are a good start because (we can question, for example) why the government is awarding a RM120 million contract to an unknown company with foreign directors,” Pua said.

“If there is no corruption, (there is) a possibility of abuse of power in awarding contracts and so on. It allows us to go to Parliament and ask questions to get more information from ministries. These are the things we’re trying to curb in the new government.”

‘Work with us’

Gobind said he has received numerous complaints about local councillors appointed by the previous (Barisan Nasional) state governments having solicited money in exchange for approval of licences. Some are said to have threatened people.

“We have complaints from people who have gone to the ACA. They said that, despite having the evidence, many cases have been left unattended. Some (complaints) have been investigated but no action was taken.

“This move by the DAP will offer the people an alternative avenue for complaints. It gives the people a more direct approach to us as politicians because we can raise all this in Parliament. What we require now is for the people to participate so that the system can work.”

Asked if the team would act if allegations are made against a member of the Pakatan Rakyat, the lawyer stressed that there will be no double standards.

“We are very firm that our governance is corruption-free. In the event that there are allegations against our members, we will take those complaints very seriously and we will have them investigated. In the probability that action needs to be taken, we will be the first to take such action.”

On whether the team will declare their assets as a first step to show its transparency, Gobind said the DAP has yet to make a decision on this.

“We have no problem with (declaring our assets) but that decision will be made by the DAP central executive committee. Most of us have no assets anyway so we’re not really afraid,” he mused.

The team can be reached via email at graftbuster@gmail.com and will also accept complaints at service centres set up by its members.