21 govt agencies, corporations, contractors sign Corporate Integrity Pledge

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KUCHING: Twenty-one government agencies, timber licence holders and contractors signed the Corporate Integrity Pledge (CIP) yesterday towards eradicating corruption in the industry.

Chairman of WTK Holding Bhd Pemanca Datuk Wong Kie Yik presents the signed pledge to Mustafar (third right) witnessed by Adenan (centre) and Awang Tengah (partly obscured). Also seen from right are Asfia, Jabu and Morshidi. — Photo by Chimon Upon

The government agencies signing the pledge were State Forest Department, Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation, Harwood Timber Sdn Bhd, Yayasan Sarawak, and Land Custody and Development Authority.

The corporations that volunteered to sign the pledge were WTK holding Bhd, KTS Holdings Bhd, RH Forest Corporation Sdn Bhd, Ta Ann Group, Samling Group, and Shin Yang Group.

Nine contractors that followed suit were Harwood Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Samling Timber Bhd, Jaya Tiasa Forest Plantation Sdn Bhd, Rupawan Istimewa Sdn Bhd, Teleng Trading Sdn Bhd, Everise Teamwork Sdn Bhd, Supreme Timber Products Sdn Bhd, Dataran Hijau Sdn Bhd, and Globalprima Sdn Bhd.

They signed the pledge at a ceremony witnessed by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner (Prevention) Datuk Mustafar Ali, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang, State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani and Second Minister for Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.

Prior to the signing, Mustafar said 488 government agencies and corporations throughout the country had signed the pledge to fight corruption.

He lauded the state Forest Department for being the first government agency in Sarawak to sign the CIP this year.

Quoting American business magnate, investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett, he said: “The three attributes to expect from a person when it comes to employment are integrity, intelligence and energy. And integrity is the most important of all.”

Mustafar added that the five core principles of CIP were to promote transparency, integrity and good governance; to include anti-corruption elements to strengthen internal procedures; to abide by the anti-corruption laws; to eradicate all forms of corruptions; and to support anti-corruption initiatives by the MACC and the government.