Local Authorities Must Set Up Integrity Units By Aug 31 – MACC

KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 (Bernama) -- All local authorities (PBT) are required to establish an Integrity Unit (UI) by August 31 as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen administrative integrity.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), in a statement today said as part of measures to streamline the reporting structure, all liaison officers (LO) serving in PBTs are now required to report directly to the UI at the State Secretary’s Office (SUK), instead of to the local council president.

“This approach is aimed at enhancing reporting autonomy and governance transparency at the state level,” read the statement posted on MACC’s official Facebook page.

MACC added that the matter was among the decisions made during the National-Level Governance Committee (JTK) Meeting held yesterday at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC).

The meeting, chaired by Chief Secretary to the Government (KSN) Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, also emphasised the need for compliance with the MACC Report (LSPRM}. The KSN’s office will issue reminder letters to ministries and state governments that have yet to act on the recommendations made between 2017 and 2021.

In addition, the Public Service Department has been instructed to review several key sections of the Human Resource Management Services Circular (MyPPSM), including those related to accepting external sponsorships for smart partnership programmes, as part of policy improvements to enhance transparency and integrity.

The Ministry of Finance has been requested to consider adopting the “Do’s and Don’ts” Procurement Implementation Guidelines prepared by the National JTK Secretariat as an official reference, and to issue them as a circular to be distributed and applied across all agencies.

According to MACC, the KSN also reminded all secretaries-general (KSU) to promptly report any known corruption cases in their respective ministries, as this serves as a key indicator under the Demerit Performance Evaluation System (DEEP), in line with Malaysia’s aspiration to strengthen its anti-corruption culture.

--BERNAMA