KUALA LUMPUR: A government backbencher has called for the suspension of the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) chief executive officer while the investigations into the government agency are ongoing.
During the debate session of the 2023 Auditor-General's Report in Dewan Rakyat today, Pasir Gudang member of parliament Hassan Abdul Karim said the matter must be carried out promptly by the Human Resources Minister Steven Sim.
"Take immediate action, suspend or terminate the relevant management particularly the CEO because he holds two positions.
"He is one of the board of directors and the he is in the investment panel," he said.
Hassan also urged that a police report over the issue is lodged as the report lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was not sufficient.
"Good that a report has been submitted to MACC, but it must also be reported to the police.
"This is based on the AG's (report) suggestion that misconduct should be reported to the relevant authorities, where it did not mention just the MACC.
"There are two law enforcement bodies, the MACC and the police. Therefore, I believe it is necessary to consider the element of criminal breach of trust."
On July 4, the AG's report highlighted that a training programme involving 3,726 participants, some of who attended it up to 16 times, cost HRD Corp RM51.69 million.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in a separate inquiry, found that HRD Corp used RM3.77 billion in levies collected from employers for training development programmes to make several different investments.
This is despite the fact that it is not an investment institution.
Sim recently has instructed the ministry's secretary-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud and HRD Corp chief executive Datuk Shahul Dawood, to prepare the reports to be submitted to the MACC regarding the findings.