PUTRAJAYA needs to provide the financial resources to government departments to curb corruption within their ranks, said National Patriots Association (Patriot) president brig-gen (rtd) Mohamed Arshad Raji.

Arshad, a member of the Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC), said corruption was one of various recurring issues its members were constantly coming across during their interviews with all government agencies.

He cited the Immigration Department, which he said struggled because of the lack of funds.

“They need sophisticated equipment to monitor borders and (empower) their staff, but they don’t have sufficient funds.

“If we want them to curb corruption, the government should provide sufficient funds,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Such funds would help curb the entry of illegal workers into the country, as well as prevent smuggling and human trafficking, he said.

“We hope that this can be implemented immediately.”

The IRC had been on a mission to gather feedback from civil society groups and other stakeholders on how to achieve a corruption-free society before compiling them into a report and submitting it to the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) chairman Daim Zainuddin in July.

The committee received more than 1,000 submissions over a two-month period after the May 9 general elections. The CEP then presented the report to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Arshad said recommendations that did not require constitutional changes or needed to be passed by Parliament should be implemented.

“Some of the recommendations will take time as they need the approval of Parliament. We understand that it would be impossible to reform everything.

“But they (government) can implement the ones that don’t need constitutional changes.”

One of the recommendations is to repeal the death penalty.

“We also suggested that department heads in the police force be reorganised, which is being carrying out.

“But the government shouldn’t delay what they can implement now,” he said.

De facto Law Minister Liew Vui Keong said that the death sentence would be scrapped for 33 offences, but no bill to that effect has been tabled in the Dewan Rakyat as yet.

IRC member Mah Weng Kwai said Putrajaya should not sit on the report any longer and release it to the public.

The committee has yet to hear from the government since presenting the report more than five months ago, Mah said.

Besides Arshad, the committee comprised Hakam president Ambiga Sreenevasan, retired Court of Appeal judge K.C. Vohrah and Universiti Malaya law professor Shad Saleem Faruqi. – December 18, 2018.