PUTRAJAYA: The Transport Ministry will not entertain any request for support letters from the minister or deputy ministers to garner tenders and such from the ministry or other ministries, Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said yesterday.He said this move towards good corporate governance was in line with last week’s decision of the Cabinet following an exchange of ideas at the National Key Result Area (NKRA) laboratory.
Speaking to reporters before chairing a post-Cabinet meeting at the ministry, Ong said that to ensure good governance, all agencies under the ministry would implement the recommendations of the ad-hoc committee on good corporate governance set up to handle the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) issue.
“The recommendations can be applied not only for the Port Klang Authority (PKA) but are suitable for all other agencies under the ministry.
“This was first introduced in PKA last December. Among the various guidelines are that the board of directors should comprise independent directors, which should constitute about one third of the total number,” he said.
Ong also said that he would launch the whistle-blowing policy at the PKA today, and added that he was studying the possibility of extending it to other agencies under the ministry.
“This policy is to encourage rectification of any practice of irregularity or lack of governance.
“We want to obtain feedback from the public and the staff of the agencies themselves on the implementation of good governance in stages,” he said.
At the same media conference, Ong extended congratulations to Datuk Long See Wool on his promotion as the ministry’s secretary-general effective Jan 26 this year.
Long, who is now the deputy secretary-general (planning), succeeds Datuk Seri Zakaria Bahari who is retiring. — Bernama