Sabah coop denies diesel subsidy abuse

KOTA KINABALU: THERE is no diesel subsidy abuse in the Sabah Fisheries and Fishermen's Development Cooperative (Ko-Nelayan), said its general manager Datuk Masood Salleh.

Being the sole distributor of subsidised fuel in the state, Masood said the corporation supplied 15 million litres a month to jetties belonging to fishermen's associations in the state.

"Maybe the abuse could have taken place between jetty operators and fishermen but our role is to distribute the diesel to them," he said after the Ko-Nelayan integrity pledge signing ceremony before the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at Wisma Pertanian here yesterday.

Present were Deputy Chief Minister and state Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin and state MACC director Jalil Jaafar.

Masood said: "We send only a certain amount of fuel to each jetty and the one who controls it could be the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry or the fishermen's association in their areas."

Masood said Ko-Nelayan had no authority to carry out enforcement to prevent diesel subsidy abuse.

However, he said, the corporation would continue to spread integrity among its workers to be more productive and disciplined.

He said Ko-Nelayan had established and practised the procurement code of ethics and would not tolerate contractors involved in corruption while dealing with the corporation.

Jalil said the pledge acted as a voluntary tool for an organisation to encourage it to set an anti-corruption programme in its system.

He said Ko-Nelayan was the first statutory body in Sabah to sign the corporate integrity pledge, adding the move was a starting point for the corporation to promote integrity internally.

Yahya said the government would continue to monitor cases involving diesel subsidy abuse and would not hesitate to take action.