THE following cases over the last few days is a cause of concern for us Malaysians.

A news report titled “PAC report: DBKL’s 97 ‘dubious land deals’ attributed to lack of SOP for sale, disposal of assets”.

What is your reaction? Every day, we are reminded about adherence to SOP and here we have an authority that does have proper SOP (standard operating procedure) while disposing of valuable pieces of land in the capital city. Were there proper checklists and procedures and how were the deals finalised?

DBKL’s vision was to make Kuala Lumpur a world-class city 2020. The mayor is supported by four “pengarah” and also 12 members in the advisory board. There is also an internal audit and integrity department and the Federal Territories Ministry to oversee DBKL’s administration.

Where was the supervision and check and balance?

Another news report, “MACC nabs 27 Immigration officers involved in syndicate which caused ‘serious breach’ in country’s borders”.

There is a syndicate and has been active for some time. Immigration Department officers allowed hardcore and wanted criminals, foreigners who abused social visit passes, those with fake travel documents and even National Higher Education Fund Corporation loan defaulters to pass through in exchange for a tidy sum of money. There are at least 15 human-smuggling syndicates.

There is also an investigation into a corruption case involving a short messaging system (SMS) fraud syndicate. 

Last count, 17 individuals, including two “Datuk” have been remanded. They were believed to have offered and received bribes for obtaining personal information of prepaid customers.

The numbers obtained were allegedly used by a content provider fraud syndicate to charge subscription fee via SMS without the knowledge and agreement of customers.

And, two traffic policemen were arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly asking for a bribe from an individual issued with a warrant of arrest. They asked for the money as an inducement for not taking action against the suspect.

But there is one good news. The police will overhaul the Criminal Investigation Department and Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department because of collusion with syndicates. Last month, 34 senior officers were transferred because of integrity issues and the process is ongoing.

However, transferring officers with integrity issues will not solve the problem because normally they do not operate independently.

Appropriate disciplinary actions need to be in place and also to trace and action taken against the network. By the way, hopefully the probe into the Sg Buloh district police headquarters on a gambling case is completed and appropriate actions taken. If found guilty and the action is only a transfer, we need to have a relook at the whole system.

Additionally, action must be taken not only on the taker but the giver, too. Further, plea bargain should not be offered for high-profile cases.

Respective “ketua pengarah” should think of creating an environment where there is less chance for corruption and strict actions taken if found guilty.

And for ministers, to encourage foreign investments through tax and other incentives are not good enough if cases like the above is a norm. And please review the relevant laws to include stiffer penalties.

There is a Malay idiom “kerana nila setitik rosak susu sebelanga” and do we want to let sleeping dogs lie. – November 19, 2020.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.