Vetting process for hiring civil servants need to be improved - Ali Hamsa

The vetting process for hiring civil servants may need to be improved to curb involvement in any corrupt activities while they are in the service, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.

Ali said to achieve zero corruption among civil servants, some measures should be taken including the vetting process of hiring only individuals of high integrity to fill the post.

"So far we have the vetting process in place, but perhaps we should improve it, as during intake there is no problem, however, they change halfway through the service," he told reporters after visiting Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Jalan Fletcher here today.

He was commenting on media reports on MACC's statement that out of the 414 individuals arrested for various offences this year, 191 people or 46 per cent of them were civil servants.

He said the integrity unit established in each ministry and department should actively organise awareness campaigns for civil servants so that they would always be reminded to carry out their responsibilities in a transparent manner.

Ali also stressed that although corruption cases involving public servants were still under control it was important to eliminate this immoral activity from the sector.

"I cannot say this is a big problem, but we just can't ignore this issue. We know that to get rid of corruption is complicated but we have to do it to ensure zero corruption among civil servants," he said.

Earlier, Ali visited the new building block that housed the school's special education division that had been upgraded by Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) costing RM73,000.

He also hoped more corporations would come forward to help the government to upgrade and improve other public facilities across the country, especially in rural areas. --Bernama