KUALA LUMPUR (April 23, 2008): By Kimberly Lau
Criticised by opposition Members of Parliament recently for being synonymous with corruption, Kuala Lumpur City Hall today announced it was setting up an integrity unit, and rolling out an integrity action plan.
Its director-general Datuk Salleh Yusup told reporters in a weekly meet-the-press session that the purpose of such an action plan was to educate the staff so that they are aware of the problem of corruption and will help to prevent it.
"We have a lot of courses for our staff but we are also sending those who are in high-risk situations, or those who have had complaints lodged against them, for special courses on corruption."
Asked how many out of its 12,000 staff members are involved in the special courses, Salleh said: "All levels of staff attend these courses, from the top to the bottom level."
He said those who were found to have been involved in any form of corruption would be punished, including being asked to resign from City Hall.
The Integrity Unit, set up under the Human Resources Department in March, will also play the role of smoothening the bureaucratic process so that there will be less opportunities for corruption. He cited the setting up of standard operating procedures and a One-Stop Centre (OSC) to increase City Hall’s efficiency.
"The time to process development plans should take, at the most, three months to approve, depending on the project size. The OSC will make it easier for people to pay their licences and such."
City Hall recently received flak from Pakatan Rakyat MPs that it was ridden with corruption. In reply, the mayor had challenged the MPs to lodge reports with the ACA if they had proof.
On grouses by Medan Damansara residents over the Damansara 21 project over the felling of trees on the hillslopes, CIty Hall Public Works Department director Siti Saffur Mansor said the developer had the right to do so.
"Their mistake in this case is not that they chopped the trees but that they did not follow the geotechnical report and do the work in stages."
She said the developers had received permission from Environment Control to begin felling trees, but were required to do it phase-by-phase.
The residents had held a protest on Sunday (April 20) complaining that the project did not have silt-traps, hoarding and a plan to prevent erosion, following which City Hall issued a stop-work order and fined the developer RM100,000 for non-compliance with safety standards.
The project which began early December comprises 21 luxury bungalows costing between RM10 million and RM15 million each.
She said engineers and technicians are being sent to the site to monitor the rectification progress every day.
The developer has promised to rectify the faults by May 20
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