We are greatly concerned about yet another transportation tragedy which had claimed seven lives, barely two months after the nation was shocked by the horrific Bukit Gantang bus crash in August which killed 22 innocent citizens.

The lack of safety checks on the operating vessels has been cited as the reason nobody detected the poor conditions which caused the ferry's engine to catch fire in the middle of the journey and the passengers were not prepared for such an emergency as few of them managed to get a life jacket.

Transparency International-Malaysia regrets the great suffering and distress the incident had inflicted on unsuspecting victims' families and the Malaysian public at large. Hence we urgently call upon the government to punish the errant and illegal ferry operators and conduct a comprehensive check on all public transportation operators, whether inland or off shore or airborne, to prevent such tragedies from haunting the Malaysian public.

It cannot be reiterated often enough how the lack of enforcement and the observance of relevant preventive safety measures have, time and again, compromised the safety of the Malaysian public and tarnished the good name of our country.

We believe that the government should check on the possibility that some corruption and bad governance could be some of the causes of this tragedy. We also urge the government to give the case higher priority and for the ACA to take "tougher action" to ensure better enforcement.

It is vital to combat corruption more effectively to raise the standards of transparency integrity and accountability, not only in the Marine Department but in the whole delivery system, to protect the lives and well-being of all Malaysians.

The writer is president of Transparency International Malaysia.