The government will form industry-based coalitions to combat corruption, with the construction sector chosen as the first as it is more prone to such issues.
“The coalition has been formed, however it has yet to start,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan.
He said each coalition is based on a specific industry as the government needs to know the respective industry in greater depth, adding the second coalition will be for the medical devices and pharmaceutical sector.
Low said the participants will be called to sign an anti-corruption agreement declaring that they would not pay or receive bribes under any circumstance.
The Malaysian government should start by dealing with corruption linked to Sarawak’s largest construction company the Taib family owned Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMS).
Taib handed himself countless state contracts as Chief Minister including the RM300 million construction of the State Legislative Assembly building in Kuching, a contract over the maintenance of all state roads in Sarawak (4000 kms) and a 15- year concession to maintain 643 kms of federal roads.
Since 2009, CMS’ single largest shareholder has been the deceased wife of the newly appointed Governor of Sarawak Taib Mahmud, with his children holding a large portion of the remaining shares.
Reports yesterday revealed that shares of CMS have climbed to the highest since 1997. A sign that it is business as usual for Taib, now he is safely positioned as Governor.