Health Ministry lodges police report over slander on social media

PUTRAJAYA (May 6): The Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday lodged a police report over alleged statements on social media claiming five officials from the ministry had been detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), reported Bernama.

The ministry in a statement said the report was filed at the Putrajaya Police Headquarters against posts made on several Facebook and Twitter accounts.

According to the MOH, the posts claimed that the MACC had arrested two of the Health Minister’s senior officers and three other ministry officials in connection to an investigation against a company said to have obtained an RM30 million contract.

"The MoH expresses regret over the slander," it said, hoping that the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) could take appropriate action against the alleged perpetrators.

Earlier, the ministry stated that it will give full cooperation to the MACC should there be any investigation on the procurement of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and Covid-19 testing kits, reported theedgemarkets.

Its director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, however, did not confirm whether the ministry was indeed involved in any probe on procurement contracts, but he said it is ready to cooperate with the MACC if the need arises. 

"The matter is pertaining to the MACC so it would be best if we refer it back to them. For MoH, we will always cooperate with MACC if needed," replied Noor Hisham when asked to comment on the allegation of misconduct in awarding contracts to supply mass testing laboratory systems to MoH via direct negotiation.

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