ALOR STAR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has recorded statements from several people over the alleged theft of rare earth elements (REE) from the Bukit Enggang Forest Reserve here.
State MACC director Datuk Shaharom Nizam Abd Manap said the graft busters had called up five to six individuals so far.
"However, we cannot disclose their identities. We also can't disclose our progress in terms of the investigation at this time. We have taken initial actions and conducted interviews with relevant parties. However, we have yet to reach a conclusive result.
"We don't know how big this case is as we are still investigating the extent of the REE theft. The culprits could be the landowners or a third party, and we have yet to determine who is responsible," he told reporters after his retirement ceremony held at the state MACC office here today.
He, however, hinted the agency had identified the main culprit behind the thefts.
"While we suspect a particular party to be behind the thefts, it has been challenging to gather enough evidence as no one has come forward," he added.
Shaharom also said the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Team, a taskforce dedicated to ensuring appropriate implementation of standard operating procedures (SOP), had been activated.
"We held talks last week. We will hold further talks on Feb 20 to get feedback from all relevant agencies on this issue. Among the agencies involved are the Forestry Department, the Department of Environment, the Mineral and Geoscience Department and Syarikat Air Darul Aman.
"We will include more agencies to ensure that they adhere to the SOPs set so that such incidents will not recur," he added.