Selayang Municipal Council president Bakaruddin Othman today described the findings of a recent survey that said the municipality had a serious corruption problem as "unfair and baseless".

"The findings are too general and there is no proof of corruption," he said.

Bakaruddin also said that the council had yet to receive a copy of the survey.

"Based on what we know as reported in the newspapers, the findings are unfair because it focused on us when no one even saw us or spoke to us.

"We don't really understand the intention, method or the area covered, although it is their right to do so," he told reporters after the municipal council's monthly board meeting.

In the survey, jointly conducted by corruption watchdog Transparency International Malaysia and the Malaysian Institute of Management, 60 percent of almost 1,000 respondents saw corruption as a serious problem in the municipality.

Bakaruddin questioned the credibility of the survey, which had identified excessive regulations, ineffective laws and the laxity in meting out punishment against corrupt officials as major reasons leading to corruption at the local government level.

"At my level, we work hard to ensure the administration runs smoothly.

"The findings of a survey which had compared 10 areas, instead of just focusing on a particular local council or area, would have been more fair and reasonable."

'Okay' to bribe

The survey covered Selayang Baru and Bandar Baru Selayang with a combined population of 164,000 people. The business owners, hawkers and higher income earners interviewed in the survey thought it was "okay" to bribe.

Businesspersons were also found to be the group that was most likely to condone and commit bribery. About slightly more than one-third of the respondents felt the need to bribe. About half of the respondents — majority of whom are Chinese Malaysians and higher income earners — felt that bribery helped expedite approval for permits, licences and processing of their complaints among other things.

The findings of the survey were released at a public forum "Putting local council governance under the spotlight: Is local council governance up to the mark?" on May 16 in Kuala Lumpur.

Bakaruddin, who took over the municipality in August 1999, said there was a possibility that respondents were relating to their experiences with the previous administration.

"We have improved a lot now and are trying hard to cut down on bureaucracy though I'm not denying the problems or delays in our services. But to say that we are corrupt is unfair because we are all working very hard.

"For example, it takes less than a week now to get approval for permits or licences, provided the applicant's full particulars are attached."

Strict discipline

Bakaruddin also insisted that strict discipline is maintained at the municipal council and that he does not hesitate to take immediate action against errant officials and staff members.

"I've even sacked staff within 24 hours and transferred 'deadwood' to other departments at a moment's notice."

According to him, the council dismissed five staff members for breaching the council's code of conduct and etiquette, and disciplined more than 25 for truancy and being absent from work without a valid reason in the last year.

Its disciplinary board has 10 more cases pending.

On Wednesday, Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo also defended the Selayang council, saying that its only problem there was garbage collection, not corruption.

The survey respondents named the police as the most corrupt government agency, followed by the Road Transport Department, Land Office and the Selayang district council.

The study group of 979 comprise 582 Malays, 261 Chinese, 125 Indians and 11 others (Bangladeshis and Indonesians). They are in the 30-39 age group, 684 were men and 295 women.

Transparency International said copies of the survey findings have been sent to the local council, Housing and Local Government Ministry, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim, Anti-Corruption Agency, Road Transport Department and the police.