THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will be ranking each ministry on corruption and abuse of power, said its chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad.

He said the rankings had been completed and validated by experts and would be released next month or in December.

“The list is drawn up so that every ministry can see its ranking and work to improve its position.

“The ranking will show the top 10 ministries with problems and five in the cleanest ministries category,” he told a press conference after a Corruption-Free Pledge-taking ceremony at the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry (MPIC) in Putrajaya yesterday.

He said the list would be drawn up every year and be expanded to include all government departments and agencies in  Malaysia

Dzulkifli declined to divulge which ministry had with the most problems, saying all would be revealed at the official launch of the rankings.

He said the rankings were not a new thing and were practised in countries such as South Korea.

On the anti-corruption pledge, Dzulkifli said 620 ministries, government agencies and departments, government-linked companies, non-governmental organisations, foundations and institutes of higher learning had taken the pledge so far.

“This shows a high level of commitment from all parties to ensure that their organisations are free of corruption and abuse of power,” he said.

On MPIC, Dzulkifli said so far the MACC had not received any complaint about the ministry and it was one of the ministries without a high incidence of corruption and abuse of power.

Meanwhile, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong said the funds allocated to the ministry such as the RM261 million for monsoon season assistance and RM130 million for the rubber-replanting scheme must be managed so that they are not misused for personal gain.

He said the ministry’s anti-corruption pledge was a manifestation of the ministry staff, agencies, and councils’ rejection of  graft.

“The government remains committed, if there is anyone or any group of people in the MPIC, agency or council who is without integrity or free of corruption, we will be firm in taking action against them,” he said. – Bernama, October 12, 2017.