KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — The Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has identified government bodies and government-linked companies (GLC) that are at added risk of abuse and corruption.

Chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said the shortlist was culled from the Integrity and Governance Unit’s strategic plan from 2019 to 2021. 

“When an organisation is considered high-risk, we look at previous cases of corruption, or if its funding is unusually large,” she said after officiating the launch TM Berhad’s Group Integrity and Governance (GIG) at the TM Convention Centre.

When asked how many organisations were categorised so, Latheefa would only say “a lot”. 

The federal government previously announced that the IGU would be embedded in all government and government-linked entities to monitor for possible abuse, in an attempt to weed out the corruption that grew rampant under previous administrations.

“For such organisations, especially for GLCs, we will closely monitor how its Integrity Governance Unit (IGU) is set up. 

“We want to send the right message, and we hope the officers in the IGUs are not placed in powerless positions but in ones where they can play effective roles,” she said. 

On TM Berhad forming its GIG, Latheefa said she hoped other GLCs will take notice of its lead and follow the initiative. 

“What is happening today is this whole integrity officer concept has blossomed into an integrity unit, which has since come full circle and is known as an integrity governance group which is a higher level than a unit. 

“TM has seen the importance of integrity and good governance, hence it’s commitment is quite high. Other sectors such as banking will also see the importance of going from officer to group, which is what we want,” Latheefa said. 

TM Berhad chairman Rosli Man said having good corporate governance was crucial to the firm as it is a publicly-listed company. 

“Our shareholders are from all over the world as well as from Malaysia, so we want to show that TM is well-run and transparent. 

“Besides investigations by GIG, we also have a whistleblowing unit at TM run by MACC. This will inspire more confidence if it is not run by TM but by an outside organisation like MACC,” he said. 

Rosli added since the whistleblowing unit was formed, more people have stepped up to provide feedback on instances of wrongdoing, which he said is to TM’s satisfaction.