Kota Kinabalu: The Sandakan Municipal Council is the first local authority in Sabah to get a certified anti-bribery management system.
The Council was conferred with the ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS) certification on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam witnessed the handover of the certification by Niosh Certification Sdn Bhd Director Dr Sharudin Shari to Sandakan Municipal Council President Henry Idol at the Sandakan Community Hall.
Dr Gunsalam, who is State Local Government and Housing Minister, also launched the Sandakan Municipal Council’s Anti-Corruption Plan 2022-2026 at the event.
He hoped the implementation of the anti-corruption plan would be fully implemented in the daily work culture of all Sandakan council staff.
“We do not want this plan to be made just to meet the requirements or instructions from the State Government, but it needs to be implemented holistically involving all stakeholders and then carry out an assessment of the status of action against each program planned,” he said.
Dr Gunsalam said that the Sandakan Council team was meeting the State Government’s aspirations with the certification.
“I would like to see other local councils successfully obtaining this ABMS ISO 37001:2016 certification,” he said.
He added that the certification was very relevant in the fight against corruption as it would help local authorities to improve the level of risk management related to corrupt practices.
Dr Gunsalam said the certification increases the level of confidence and trust among the various stakeholders in dealing with the council.
He thanked Niosh Certification Sdn Bhd for their hard work in providing training to all MPS staff and for agreeing to absorb a large part of the cost.
