Muscat: In a bid to curb corruption, a government company the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), launched the Whistle Blowing Policy on Monday, making it the first government institution to apply such a system.

The policy urges employees to report any irregularities, ethics, fears and concerns about the work directly to the SGRF, according to the Al Roya daily newspaper.

That policy was announced at a two-day event organised by the Risk and Compliance function of the SGRF, which ended on Tuesday. The brochure was distributed to all the employees to ensure that they understood its objectives. Applying such a system at work comes under the framework of the efforts made by the SGRF to make rules and put the necessary mechanisms for the application of best practices in corporate governance, as well as raising the level of communication and transparency and professionalism in the fund in accordance with the highest principles and standards.

The officials at the SGRF assured to protect the whistleblower from any harm or dangers from any quarters. The officials also pointed out that the system provides all the necessary guarantees to hide the identity of the person.

The State General Reserve Fund, which is the largest sovereign fund of the Omani government, was established by Royal Decree No 1/80, issued in 1980. The Fund, belonging to the Ministry of Finance, seeks to achieve sustainable revenues over the long term through investment in a variety of assets inside and outside of Oman.

Ahmed Al Kuthairi, an economic analyst, told Gulf News that it was a commendable initiative on part of the SGRF amid the allegations of corruption in many government units for years.

Al Kuthairi said that other government units should also follow suit and help the government in weeding out corruption from the corridors of powers. On his part, Naser Al Barwani, researcher in the human resources, said that it would result in more transparency in each government unit.

It would help in curbing corruption and expected to have good impact on the economy, he added.

Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Oman’s Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, said recently that the administrative apparatus of the state suffers from paralysis.

Alawi added that young and qualified Omanis should take up the cudgels in the future and take the responsibility to raise the capacity and efficiency of the institutions.

There are limited private companies that applied such initiative in Oman so far.