Sabah CM orders 76 statutory bodies, GICs to establishe IGU

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 1 (Bernama) -- Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor today ordered the state's 76 statutory bodies and government interest companies (GIC) to establish an Integrity and Governance Unit (IGU) within three months from today.

He said to date, only nine statutory bodies and GICs have established the unit in their respective agencies and therefore reminded the 76 involved to take the directive seriously.

The state Finance Minister said the IGU establishment was important to ensure a culture of integrity and transparency in the workplace and that all rules and regulations are adhered to strictly.

"This is the responsibility of the 20,920 state civil servants and 107,097 employees working for the federal government in Sabah.

"The 3.4 million Malaysians in Sabah demand this integrity. Leakages that affect the delivery of services should not be happening if the government’s initiatives in promoting integrity culture are followed in the workplace," he said in a statement in conjunction with Sabah State 2022 Integrity Day today.

The nine statutory bodies and state GICs that have established the unit are the Sabah State Rubber Industry Board; Sabah State Forestry Development Board (SAFODA); Sabah Housing and Urban Development Board; Sabah Loan Corporation;

Sabah State Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO); Sabah Foundation Group; Sabah Urban Development Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (SUDC); Board of Trustees of Sabah Parks; and the Sabah Tourism Board.

Meanwhile, Hajiji also urged all 17 departments under the Sabah Chief Minister's Department to develop their respective Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan (OACP) by this December.

He said the 11 state ministries had developed their respective OACPs, while departments, district offices, local authorities, and state statutory bodies that have not done so, were given until December next year to come up with their OACP.

"To curb state revenue leakage, a task force consisting of the Sabah Ministry of Finance; Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission; and Malaysian Palm Oil Berhad was formed to collect all unpaid sales tax.

In the meantime, he said, the state government had started to resolve the issues pointed out in the Auditor General's Report and as a result of this initiative, 63 of the 116 audit issues were successfully resolved between Jan 2021 to Aug 2022.

-- BERNAMA