THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should must be transparent and reveal the number of graft cases it has brought to court and the number of convictions it has secured in Penang, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.

 “We demand transparency on the part of MACC as we do not want the image of Penang civil servants and the state government to be tarnished only by account of the number of complaints received since 2019,” he said in a statement today.

He said the government welcomes MACC investigations into the crime of corruption involving the state’s civil servants.

“Those found to be involved in accepting bribes, abuse of power and making false claims must be investigated and charged as soon as possible.”

Chow was responding to MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s statement yesterday that the anti-graft agency had received a 919 corruption complaints against civil servants in Penang since 2019.

Azam had said that the civil servants had committed many types of offences but that the crime of corruption was the most common, involving bribery and power abuse.

“We received 312 information on accepting bribes and 147 on abuse of power in Penang,” Azam said on the “Cakna Rasuah” (Corruption Awareness) programme on RTM’s Mutiara FM radio

“For example, an individual who has supposedly completed a job makes a false claim for it. This happens a lot and it’s very damaging.

“These cases are increasing by the day, so I urge all the department heads to monitor their officers who are given the authority to make decisions.”

In a separate statement today, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang asked Azam for a breakdown of the purported crimes.

“Has Azam the facts and figures to justify his statement? Which is the most and least corrupt state in the country?

“The MACC chief should not make irresponsible statements about any state without facts and figures,” Lim said.

The Iskandar Puteri MP also wanted to know how many persons had the MACC charged in court for bribery and abuse of power in Penang and comparison figures from states?

“This is one subject the select committee on agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department should call up Azam to explain,” Lim said. – September 30, 2022.