“Instead of sitting on a complaint for one full year, the agency should have acted a long time ago,” said Parti Cinta Sabah president Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing.
Bumburing was referring to MACC’s investigation into a possible graft case involving RM1.5 billion allegedly siphoned off from federal projects worth RM7.5 billion meant for the rural poor in Sabah.
The investigation was opened following a complaint by a whistleblower who came to the MACC office in Sabah last year.
MACC has so far arrested three individuals, including Parti Warisan Sabah vice-president Peter Anthony, and is investigating more than 60 companies believed to have been involved in the case.
Peter was detained last Friday and has been remanded for five days to assist in MACC’s investigation.
Bumburing cautioned that with the delay in action by MACC, it was not unusual for some quarters to suggest that the current investigation was politically-motivated, especially with the general election being months away.
“The opposition will not speak against MACC if they are confident that the agency does its job without fear and without favouring any particular party.
“However, any action must not carry any mysterious tags,” he said.
Nevertheless, Bumburing believes the case has not affected the opposition’s stand on the issue of corruption.
“The government should go after the big fish instead of going on a witch hunt. The government should address corrupt practices that affect the economy of the nation and that are causing instability and the real causes of the declining value of the ringgit, such as the 1MDB scandal,” he said.
He also invited the people, especially Sabahans, to remain firm in the struggle for regime change and not to be intimidated by “the arm twisting tactics of Umno”.