WHISTLE-BLOWING civil servants will be rewarded, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng today.

He said the ministry is creating the Integrity and Personality Award, which is in the final stages of evaluation by a committee headed by the Treasury secretary-general.

Government employees who expose misdeeds stand to get up to RM30,000, subject to the approval of an awards panel that will include the secretaries-general and representatives of the various ministries.

Lim said the award will serve as an incentive in the drive to instil an anti-corruption culture in the civil service, adding that it is part of reform efforts.

Civil servants with knowledge of wrongdoings can forward their complaints to the secretaries-general of their respective ministries or the Treasury secretary-general.

“The government requires civil servants to get the approval of their higher-ups to lodge reports with police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission,” Lim told reporters in Putrajaya.

“They have to go through an internal process, and if it is a very serious issue, only then will a report be lodged.”

He also announced the development of the Creativity and Innovation Award, aimed at motivating government workers to come up with ways to save on costs.

The savings recorded at the end of a project will be given back to the respective ministries instead of being channelled into the government’s consolidated fund. – October 4, 2019.