SEPANG - It is no longer a secret that there are 'Yang Berhormat' (Honorable Members of Parliament) in this country who interfere in rural development projects for their own benefit.
This matter has been revealed by Dr Nor'izah Ahmad, a lecturer from the Faculty of Business and Communication, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), who acknowledged the existence of politicians who abuse their positions for personal gain.
"We have found politicians using allocations (for rural development projects) to build a two-kilometre bridge, but after our informant's investigation, he admitted that the project was unnecessary.
"But it was still done because this bridge serves as a connection to his plantation," she elaborated while presenting a research paper titled 'Corruption Risks in the Rural Development Sector' during the Second National Conference on Governance, Integrity, and Anti-Corruption Research at the Movenpick Convention Centre here on Thursday.
Earlier, the conference served as a platform for policy planners and industry players to assess, plan, and take appropriate action in helping to create a corruption-free civil society.
The conference also provided a platform for sharing research findings in the context of governance, integrity, and anti-corruption, as well as discussing current issues related to corruption risks, integrity violations, and ethical weaknesses.
This year's organisation is a continuation of the same conference held for the first time at the same location in March last year.
On top of that, Nor'izah also revealed that there were companies that had previously been blacklisted for failing to complete development projects but were still awarded contracts due to political interference.
"Yes, some of these companies have been blacklisted, but due to political interference, they still receive rural development projects. This raises significant concerns," she emphasised.
Therefore, she said that policies, regulations, and laws regarding the awarding of development projects needed to be improved.