The Malaysian Insider – 2 hours 26 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- Public Accounts Committee going after more ministries over auditor’s report
Shocked at the number of government ministries involved in wastage of public resources, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will call more ministries to account for mismanagement and leakages.
PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said 13 ministries and two agencies will be hauled up, based on findings in the third installment of the 2013 Auditor-General's Report which was released in Parliament today.
These include the Education Ministry for wastages in the 1BestariNet e-learning project and the Health Ministry over the construction of a hospital in Shah Alam.
The PAC's inquiry proceedings are to begin at the next Parliament session next year.
"We were also shocked, this time there were many issues that seemed serious enough for us to call them up. The increase in number of ministries could be because the audit was done at the same time as the tabling of the budget in Parliament," the Pulai MP said today.
The report found that the RM663 million 1BestariNet project was suffering from a lack of use, with less than 5% of students using the facility which was installed in schools nationwide.
It also noted that Internet connection to 4,176 users were delayed by between 12 and 439 days, with no time extension or fines worth RM2.4 million levied.
Nur Jazlan said the PAC will also be calling the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
"This is about the 1Azam programme where the audit report revealed several issues on the selection of participants who did not follow the e-kasih system and also the justification for the selection for 22 suppliers worth RM8 million, which could not be determined," he said.,
The 1Azam programme is an initiative under the ministry, introduced in January 2010 to provide employment opportunities to the hardcore poor in the business, services and agriculture sectors.
Besides that, a special committee was also set up to carry out investigations on the issues that have been highlighted in the A-G's Reports.
"This committee will act to immediately investigate the reports even before it is tabled in parliament," he said.
He also noted that no ministry had been ticked off in the report over its financial management, even at the state level.
"Only one statutory body – the Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (Finas) – has been highlighted over its financial management," he said.
He also noted that in terms of financial statement verification, six agencies will be hauled up, including Finas, Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM), National Visual Arts Development Board, the Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB), Railway Assets Corporation and Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation. – November 10, 2014
