KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has reminded high performing government-linked companies (GLCs) in the State not to be complacent but to continue pushing to further improve their achievement.
He said GLCs must strive not only for excellent financial performance to help spur Sabah’s economy but also to continuously strengthen integrity in support of the government’s effort to combat corruption.
Musa, while officiating at the closing of the Corporate Integrity System Malaysia Sabah event here yesterday, said Sabah GLCs were generally doing well with many of them having been recognized for their excellent financial management for many consecutive years.
He said this goes well with the government’s aspiration to elevate the standard and quality on aspects of its services to the people, including those provided through GLCs.
“When I was first appointed the Minister of Finance, the first thing that I said in my speech, including in the State Assembly, was that I wanted Sabah GLCs to perform well.
“I have always said that GLCs should not be assisted by the government to stay afloat but that they should instead be doing so well that they are the ones helping the government.
“Thankfully, they have been steadily improving over they years, and I believe they are able to perform well because they have good management system. They are able to repay their loans, and those who have cleared their debts are paying tens or even hundreds of millions in dividends to the government.
“But, what is important is that those who are now on the right track must not be complacent but continue to move forward,” he said.
Musa stressed that GLCs have many advantages that private companies do not have, including the continuous direct financial support they received from the government. These companies, he added are even given land for free or at very low price for their operation, hence there is no reason they could not perform well if they adopt good management and administration.
Touching on the event, Musa said the State Government welcomeD the initiative by the Institute of Integrity Malaysia (IIM) to engage Sabah GLCs in their effort to promote anti-corruption awareness.
“It is very timely to have discussions on issues such as ethics and integrity in the private sector, to exchange views and ideas as well as experiences on best practices, towards identifying challenges and finding the solutions in transforming an organization in the aspect of integrity,” he said.
He noted that the government has identified ‘fighting corruption’ as one of the priorities in its Government Transformation Programme (GTP), with various targets and Key Performance Indicator having been adopted for this purpose.
The event, which saw several speakers from the Police Department, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and other related agencies presenting their papers and talks, was the seventh held by the IIM in the country.
The objective was to promote good governance among the GLCs and to get them on board to curb graft, to ensure optimal utilization of government resources to benefit the people.
At the event, 13 Sabah GLCs signed and submitted a corporate initiative pledge to carry out and assist anti-corruption measures. Representatives from the companies presented the document to Sabah MACC director Haji Jalil Haji Jaafar, witnessed by Musa and IIM president Datuk Dr Mohd Tap Salleh.