KUALA LUMPUR: The foreign workers centralised management system (FWCMS) was being used for six years without a finalised contract.
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said they found that as of its last proceedingS on March 13, the FWCMS contract had not been finalised and signed between the government and the vendor, despite the letter of acceptance already being issued on Jan 12, 2018.
"Through our proceedings, the PAC found that the cabinet meeting on Aug 26, 2015, had approved the development of the integrated foreign workers management system (ePPAx) and FWCMS, which are two systems based on the same single-window concept.
"This results in overlapping functions between agencies in developing foreign worker management systems and leads to a waste of public funds."
Mas Ermieyati said a letter from the Public-Private Partnership Unit of the Prime Minister's Department dated Dec 30, 2020, stated that the FWCMS was not included in the list of projects that received in-principle approval from the cabinet for a letter of intent to be implemented as a public-private partnership from 2009 to May 31, 2020.
"In addition, it was found that the cabinet note regarding the direction and implementation of FWCMS was not submitted to the cabinet before the letter of acceptance was issued.
"PAC was also informed by the Home Ministry that Bestinet Sdn Bhd had applied for a six-year contract extension and wanted to increase the collection fees from RM100 to RM120.
"On June 24, the home minister had said the cabinet had agreed to extend Bestinet's contract for three more years. The PAC will obtain information related to this matter in follow-up proceedings to be held within three months from today," she said in a press conference in Parliament, today.
Mas Ermieyati said the PAC also identified weaknesses in the management of identification (ID) control in the FWCMS where there were two IDs being used by the Human Resources Ministry, while there were 24 unauthorised users that had approved 24 employer applications.
"The case has been reported to the police for investigation."
As an improvement measure, the PAC had five recommendations for the government to implement, including promptly finalising the agreement and direction of the FWCMS.
Secondly, Mas Ermieyati said the Home Ministry must ensure that any information and communications technology-related matters were referred to the policies and regulations currently enforced by the National Digital Department.
"The Home Ministry should rectify any discrepancies that occur in the procurement process and seek a prompt resolution.
"The Home Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry must collaborate to develop a comprehensive strategic plan regarding foreign worker management, not limited to development of systems alone, and ensure that there are no overlapping functions being developed causing public money wastage.
"Also, the police must keep us informed of the related development on the investigation into the 24 applications for foreign worker quotas that were approved by unauthorised users."