KUALA LUMPUR: The Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) has yet to fully utilise the data observation equipment acquired at a cost of RM570,000, according to the Auditor General’s Report 2014 Series 1, released today.
The report said the equipment was not even installed at FRIM’s tower and gateway house as it should be.
It was also said that the gateway house, which worth RM74,200, was abandoned, neglected and badly damaged with traces of intrusion and theft.
In addition, the audit found that a solar dryer worth RM229,800 and a herb research and processing equipment worth RM243,520, which were placed in the Postharvest Technology Centre in August 2014, were unusable.
“The solar dryer can’t be used because there is no clean water supply or Reverse Osmosis (RO) water supply.
“The use of ground water is not suitable because it contains microbes that could affect the quality of samples and products produced,” said the report.
Until now, FRIM has yet to give any feedback on the failure to manage the three equipment worth more than RM1 million accordingly. – BERNAMA