PUTRAJAYA: The Public Complaints Bureau will be known and function as Ombudsman Malaysia, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
For this purpose, he said, an Ombudsman Act would be drafted to ensure a more effective management of public complaints in Malaysia.
“The Ombudsman Malaysia will not be put under the prime minister’s office or under any ministry. It is free to act (as it sees fit),” he said after a meting of the Special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption.
Also present were Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law & Parliamentary Affairs) Datuk Liew Vui Keong and National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) director-general Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed.
Dr Mahathir also expressed his hope that the government could find qualified people to be in Ombudsman Malaysia.
“We will try to find people who have impeccable integrity,” he said.
During the Special Cabinet Committee meeting, Dr Mahathir said it had agreed to strengthen the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) by turning it into Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
“The IPCMC will act as an independent monitoring body that is more holistic. Transfers and changes will happen in EAIC as it moves towards becoming IPCMC.”
The prime minister also said the Malaysia Integrity Institute would be placed under GIACC, which is tasked to be an operational body to build government agencies’ capacity and competency.
“The National Integrity and Good Governance Department (JITN) will be absorbed into GIACC. Discussion is scheduled to be held with the Public Services Department to take into account the aspect of savings for the government,” he said.
Reporting by Azura Abas, Manirajan Ramasamy, Mohd HusniMohd Noor and Zanariah Abd Mutalib