SEREMBAN: Efforts to increase public confidence in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission must be stepped up, said deputy chief commissioner Datuk Seri Zakaria Jaffar.
In 2009, the first year of its existence, MACC enjoyed only 39 per cent public confidence, he added.
“We strived to win the people’s trust and pushed up confidence in us to 68 per cent last year. But this is still not enough.
“We must think hard to increase the confidence further because we have a very big role in checking corruption.
“Like it or not, the people must believe in us. For how can we work if they have no confidence in us?” Zakaria said at a function to show appreciation to the friends of the Negeri Sembilan MACC here Wednesday night.
Also present were MACC directors Datuk Shaharom Nizam Abd Manap of Negeri Sembilan, Datuk Azmi Alias of Johor and Ramli Ismail of Melaka.
Zakaria, who retires on Oct 12 at the age of 58, said that society had three roles to play in figting corruption – as complainant, witness and informant.
He said there are five entities supervising the work of the MACC – the Special Parliamentary Committee on Corruption, the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board, the Complaints Committee, the Operations Evaluation Panel, and the Education and Consultation Panel. —Bernama