Declaration of assets should be done to an independent audit firm - Noor Farida

The declaration of assets by politicians and senior civil servants should be done to an independent audit firm, says Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin.

The former Malaysian ambassador to the Netherlands said appropriate action should be taken if laws requiring the declaration of assets of the two parties are implemented in the future.

“The declaration of assets should be done to an independent audit firm which is able to take steps to verify and check against bank account,” said Noor Farida during her speech at the launch of Bersih 4 at the Petaling Jaya City Council Auditorium on Friday night.

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) on July 6 called for the amendments to be made to Section 36 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 which allows MACC to issue a notice directing any politicians or civil servants suspected of corruption to declare their assets.

The issue had recently garnered the attention of Cheras Umno chief, Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshee who suggested that the government create a special body to find a transparent and more systematic property declaration mechanism.

Meanwhile, Gua Musang MP Razaleigh Hamzah also urged for MPs to declare their assets to avoid conflict of interests.