Graft cost country RM10 billion a year

sun2surf | Corruption, if left to fester, can cause the country to lose RM10 billion a year in domestic growth.

Pemudah, the government's special task force to facilitate business, gave this cost of corruption statistic in pushing its case for the Anti-Corruption Agency to be given a quick fix and a much-needed shot in the arm to give investors confidence to do business here.

Statistics made available to theSun show the ACA's performance is dismal -- it has only investigated 10.1% or just 7,223 cases out of the total of 71,558 reported between 2000 and 2006.
Pemudah co-chairman Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon told theSun in a recent interview that the statistics and dismal results could pose bigger problems for the country in years to come. “Something must be done fast as the actual situation is a serious cause for concern,” he said.

“The ACA must be given more resources to work with, including an increase in budget by the Government. It is about time to seriously consider recruiting foreign officers to work with the ACA on a contractual basis to solve more cases.”

Yong said World Bank statistics show that corruption can reduce the country’s growth rate by between two and four per cent and this translates to a loss of up to RM10 billion a year.
He said although the ACA is trying to better itself, the figures speak for themselves and paint a gloomy picture of things to come.... selanjutnya.