I was never once told to 'shut up', reveals ex-AG Ambrin Buang

SHAH ALAM - Tan Sri Ambrin Buang has revealed he was not told to "shut up" in his 11 years as the auditor general under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's administration.

He said all shortcomings in government agencies were recorded in the Auditor General’s Annual Report as it went through two processes - consultation and information gathering to ensure balanced reporting.

“Auditing is a significant and noble task, as we are correcting situations that are simply not right,” he said in an exclusive interview with Sinar Harian.

He said the National Audit Department is an independent body to check, examine, analyse facts and to present opinions.

In the exclusive interview with Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar, he spoke on Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project, National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) and 1MDB.

In paper, he said, "everything looks good".

"But sometimes the existing structures do not work as there is no check and balance. So, in cases like this we see a lot of government SOPs that are not followed,” he said.

Citing 1MDB, he said the final report (which is no longer available as it is now under the Official Secrets Act, it focused on the case.

Ambrin said one of the biggest scandals the world has seen was 1MDB. “Our involvement is based on instructions or requests from the finance ministry. We have come up with reports on our end, but what happens after that is not for us to know,” he said.

From his years of experience, he said most of the leakages in government agencies were due to weak governance.

Asked whether he believed that civil servants have the integrity to boost good governance and practices, he said: “The challenge we are facing now is having to implement government policies during a pandemic."

He said the majority have the will to uphold integrity but he remains concerned with the minority as their wrongdoings have an impact on the country's development.