KUCHING: The federal government will discuss the alleged corruption involving the Immigration Department officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he will also meet with Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, whose ministry oversees immigration matters, to further address the issue.
“I believe he (Saifuddin) will provide an explanation during the Cabinet meeting,” he said.
Zahid was responding to reporters’ query on the alleged corruption issue at KLIA in a press conference after attending the Coordination Meeting of the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) with the Sarawak government at Wisma Bapa Malaysia on Monday (July 3).
He said he had previously discussed the same matter with the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
“I think this kind of problem can be resolved in a good way through the existing administrative system,” he said.
On June 29, it was reported that a federal minister had caused a commotion by entering KLIA to intervene in the case of a Chinese national who had been detained by immigration officers upon entering the country.
The following day, (June 30), Tiong in a statement confirmed it was him who entered the airport’s Terminal 1 arrival hall.
“Yes, it was me… I was also at the KLIA and decided to find out what was happening there after receiving complaints.
“This is something normal for us (ministers) to go to the ground to learn about the real situation.
“I am grateful that my presence there managed to uncover an embarrassing situation for the country, in which there is a culture of corruption among a number of officers as well as chronic abuse of power at the country’s major gateway,” Tiong said.
He also clarified that he had no power to free the tourist and if he were to do that, it would only be damaging his own reputation as a Minister.
On this note, Tiong had called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to probe what had been happening in KLIA.
