BUTTERWORTH: Zakat Pulau Pinang chief executive officer Amran Hazali, who took office early this year, is implementing measures to overhaul the state’s zakat offices with the introduction of new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies.
Speaking exclusively to the New Straits Times, Amran said he had introduced more than 80 SOPs in the past eight months and was planning to reintroduce internal auditing of its eight zakat branches in the state.
“When I first took over as Zakat Pulau Pinang chief executive officer in February, the first thing I did was meet the top management personnel.
“From the meetings, I found that morale among employees was low and there were internal issues with regard to SOPs in several areas, including accounting and administration.
“There were many SOPs missing. Some were incomplete and others not implemented. I can’t say that the previous SOPs were not enough, but that there was a lot of room for improvement,” he said at the Zakat Pulau Pinang headquarters here recently.
Amran said his first action was to establish new SOPs and make sure they were complied with.
“Early on, I appointed two officers to ensure everything is done according to SOPs and that there is a paper trail.
“I have to make sure my staff are disciplined in adhering to SOPs and I do not want anyone taking advantage by not complying with them,” he said.
Amran said the other thing he focused on was restoring Zakat Pulau Pinang’s staff morale, following the widely reported corruption scandal involving its previous chief executive officer.
“I had to motivate and work towards returning the staff’s confidence and love for the organisation. I had to make sure they were enthusiastic about their work. I also had to get rid of any office conflict.”
Amran said his next step would be to bring in internal auditors to look at the financial aspects of its collection and distribution.
“Internal audit is important as it is part of a checks and balances system, and it is needed to improve SOPs. We will bring in internal auditors next year,” he said.
On criticisms about the organisation’s incompetent and tardy employees, Amran said the two issues were present in any organisation.
“Maybe the previous administration ignored those who come late to work. I am working on it by ensuring action is taken against frequent latecomers.
On achieving Zakat Pulau Pinang’s RM125 million collection target for this year, Amran said it had achieved 66 per cent of its target.
“We (Zakat Pulau Pinang) have collected RM82 million and
are confident that we will reach our target in the next 2½ months.
“Usually, we see a 22 per cent increase in collection towards the end of the year.”
Amran said Zakat Pulau Pinang had seen an improvement on pay deduction compared with the same period last year.
“When I took over, I moved aggressively to ensure zakat payments were collected and distributed.
“Based on my experience, I knew that 60 per cent comes from salary deduction as we can see an improvement (in zakat collection). We had collected RM28.5 million via (salary) deductions up to September last year. However, we had collected RM34.5 million via deductions up to September this year.
“I had approached businesses that had yet to pay their zakat and had received positive responses.”
Amran said he planned to ensure that Zakat Pulau Pinang reached its distribution target of RM121 million
He said the agency had distributed more than RM80 million.
“Our target for next year is RM136 million in terms of collection and RM138 million in terms of distribution,” he said, adding that Zakat Pulau Pinang was focusing on a more productive distribution of zakat.
“Productive distribution allows zakat receivers to better their lives by setting up small- and medium-scale enterprises instead of handouts that finish fast and have no long lasting benefits.”
He said he planned to digitise Zakat Pulau Pinang to ensure a faster and more efficient service.
While Zakat Pulau Pinang might encounter glitches during its first few years of digitalisation, Amran said he was confident that he and his staff could overcome the matter.