MY: ACA: Give us the names

[Sooraj Nair]

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* POSTED WITH PERMISSION *
* Copyright Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd *
* The Star Online, http://www.jaring.my/star/ *
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By Azmah Abidin
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PETALING JAYA: The Anti-Corruption Agency wants publishers who claimed
corrupt practices had delayed the supply of textbooks to start naming
names.

ACA public relations officer Nordin Saidin said investigators had
already interviewed several publishers and officials from Dewan Bahasa
dan Pustaka and the Education Ministry's Textbook Division.

"I hope that responsible civic-minded people will come forward and
tell us the names of the culprits.

"It will make our job easier and we can come up with the results
sooner.

"But I think these people do not want to talk because they are afraid
that the same accusation may be thrown back at them. Sometimes, those
who make the allegations are also involved," Nordin said in an
interview.

He said the team investigating the alleged graft hoped to complete
their probe next month.

"It's going to take some time because there are a lot of documents to
be checked," he added.

Nordin also said the ACA would "put the investigations under wraps" to
prevent those involved from getting prior warning about what the
agency was doing.

National League of Bumiputra Book Publishers vice-president (Ikatan)
Maarof Saad said the ACA team had asked him pertinent questions
regarding the case and "I helped them where I could."

The ACA team began the probe following a call by Education Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for a shake-up in the textbook industry.

Ikatan had also alleged that "hanky-panky" in the Textbook Division
was the main cause of delays in the supply of textbooks for primary
schools.

DBP director-general A. Aziz Deraman said that all the textbooks would
be delivered by the end of the month.