Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat today said the whistleblower policy will soon be expanded to all organisations and statutory bodies under the aegis of the ministry.  

NONE "We are focusing on transparency and good governance.

"We are serious about it, we walk the talk," he told reporters after launching the policy for the Port Klang Authority (PKA).

The policy involves a set of guidelines and an independent body to ensure that those who report on corruption and other improprieties are protected.

This is part of the efforts to ensure employees come forward to help weed out corruption in PKA.

Ong added, that the whistleblowing policy was just one step in his plan to instill transparency and good governance.

He admitted that the implementation of the policy was related to the revelations of corruption involving the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). However he said that was not the only factor.

‘ Ministry watching port operations closely’

The Transport Minister also reminded all port authorities that there had to be a clear demarcation between port regulators and port operators. “We are watching all port operations closely but won’t  interfere unnecessarily.”

Ong stressed that “all levies imposed on port end users had to be justifiable. We do not want to burden port users unnecessarily.”

He added that he had also issued a directive to all port authorities in December last year to appoint independent members to their respective boards. “Independent members must make up at least one-third of the boards. This is to ensure transparency and keep corruption in check.”

When asked when this would take place, he said that the respective authorities were to reply to him as soon as possible and then appoint the independent board members.

As of now only PKA has appointed independent board members, including two who received their appointment letters from Ong today at the same function.        

Questioned if this was going to be another handout exercise where appointments were handed out to representatives of the Umno, MCA and MIC, Ong said there was no hard and fast rule that appointment must be made along partisan lines. “However, to be fair, those party representatives who are qualified must also not be excluded.”