PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has set up a task force to look into several issues brought up in the Auditor General’s Report.
This follows discussions between the commission and the Audit Department, said MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya.
“We were lucky. We had a session with the auditor general yesterday (Thursday) where were presented with a full briefing on the report. From there, we narrowed things down to a couple of issues.
“One involves procedures and discipline. (These are) maybe not serious enough for an MACC investigation. But there will be recommendations to the departments involved.
“(But), out of the report, a few issues that are punitive have been identified, which means MACC can come in (to investigate).
“So, we are setting up a task force to look at the AG’s Report for the purpose of taking action. Definitely, we are on it to investigate and take action,” she said in an exclusive interview with Media Prima Bhd.
Among the examples Latheefa mentioned were the ones involving the Socio-Economic Development of the Indian Community (Sedic) Unit, the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs) and Armed Forces Family Housing (RKAT) programme.
“(We will look into) whichever issue we feel (we need to), based on (whether there were) large amount of funds, lack of documentation, false claims,” said Latheefa.
Asked whether she could promise that action would be taken, she said she could not at the moment.
“Let’s start the investigation first,” she said.
The AG’s Report 2018 (Series 1) was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
It had mentioned that the Prime Minister’s Department had mismanaged funds received by Sedic, established in 2014 by the then government, to the tune of millions of ringgit.
It had said Sedic had been given up to RM203.89 million between 2014 and 2018 for the purpose of running development programmes to uplift the Indian community.
The report had also taken to task the Immigration Department for MyIMMs, the system used for foreign labour quota approval after finding elements of manipulation and fraud.
According to the report, the quota granted to 123 companies to bring in foreign labour was found to be fake.
The audit estimated the first levy payment collection for 21,378 workers should have stood at RM24.55 million. However, the fake quota and possibility of fraud could have led to losses of the government's revenue.
“The Audit Department scrutinised the feedback from the Immigration Department, and based on analysis of data derived from MyIMMs between 2016 and 2018, there was manipulation and possibility of fraud in foreign workers' quota that warrants an immediate investigation," read the report.
There were also issues with the Home Ministry’s foreign workers management division One-Stop Centre (OSC).
On RKAT, the report found that it had not fully met the objective of providing conducive and safe homes for armed forces personnel and their families.
The report said as of December 2018, there were 54,597 RKAT units in 100 locations nationwide of which 73.4 per cent were occupied, 22.5 per cent were unoccupied; and 4.1 per cent had been turned into annex buildings.
“From the total units unoccupied, 1,734 were recommended to be torn down, 783 were unsafe for occupancy and the remaining 9,744 needed repairs. This had caused 4,316 personnel to be still on the waiting list.”
The report added that RKAT maintenance had not been conducted effectively due to lack of funds and inefficient management.
“These include usage of allocations for the acquisition of low-valued movable assets, compliance with weak internal rules, unorganised management records and incomplete monitoring of project.
“This has led to the objectives of ensuring a conducive RKAT building, extending the lifespan of buildings, reducing damage and ensuring the safety of occupants, to be unachieved.”