How could Mas Ermieyati Samsudin and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) not know that the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) is a statutory body enacted under the PEMBANGUNAN SUMBER MANUSIA BERHAD ACT 2001?
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has urged the Human Resources Ministry to study the need for Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) to be made into a statutory body.
PAC chairperson Mas Ermieyati Samsudin made this call in a press conference in the Parliament today after the committee released a report on the government-linked company, highlighting numerous pressing issues.
“This is considering HRD Corp has expanded since its establishment.
“It should be made into a statutory body to ensure better governance by referring it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), Public Service Department and the Finance Ministry,” Mas Ermieyati (above, centre) said.
Hence, that suggestion indicative of the quality of Members of Parliament that currently also sit in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). We certainly need BETTER QUALITY MPs in Malaysian Parliament.
As a statutory body, it must follow the said Act - and, the fact that there was NO Bank Negara Representative in the Investment Panel since 2017 is a VERY SERIOUS MATTER - it means that there NO legal Investment Panel since 2017, and all actions/decisions of the 'now illegal because the Act was not followed' Investment Panel since 2017 are ILLEGAL??? Who will be liable? The Minister, the BOD, the Chief Executive, the Investment Panel Members - can we even remedy this?
The report also revealed that there was no Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) representative on the panel, which is a violation of the Human Resources Development Fund Act 2001.
“The HRD Corp investment panel did not report investment activities to BOD, in which its management justified that the chairman of the panel is also among the BOD.
“This has resulted in the BOD being unable to monitor HRD Corp’s investment activities as a whole and undermining the BOD’s role as the entity responsible for HRD Corp’s direction
“According to the PSMB Act 2001, a representative from BNM must be appointed as one of the members of the panel, but there has been no BNM representative in the panel since 2017 and this is in violation of the Act,” the report said.
See also:-
OTHER MATTER
If you go to Malaysian Parliamentary Website - one sees various Parliamentary Committees, and all that is there is the list of MPs who are members of there Committees - and NOTHING else - no indication whether they even had meetings, about what or the even the decisions made/considered at these meetings. No reports too for most(if not all of these Committees). Does this mean that these Parliamentary Committees have been set up for SHOW - and really does not meet or do anything (well that is the impression one gets when we visit the Parliamentary website - and there is no information about meetings or reports or what exactly have these committees been doing at all? This must be speedily REMEDIED by Parliament - suggest even Hansard like minutes of these Parliamentary Committee meetings. After all, we pay them for attendance of these meetings - and the money comes from the people....
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has urged the Human Resources Ministry to study the need for Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) to be made into a statutory body.
PAC chairperson Mas Ermieyati Samsudin made this call in a press conference in the Parliament today after the committee released a report on the government-linked company, highlighting numerous pressing issues.
“This is considering HRD Corp has expanded since its establishment.
“It should be made into a statutory body to ensure better governance by referring it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), Public Service Department and the Finance Ministry,” Mas Ermieyati (above, centre) said.
Earlier, the Auditor-General’s Department had also urged the Human Resources Ministry to refer the management of HRD Corp to the relevant enforcement agencies after the company failed its audit.
Among others, auditors found mismanagement of hundreds of millions of ringgit involving training grants, investments and property purchases.
‘Not an investment institution’
PAC’s report found that HRD Corp had made several different investments using a total of RM3.77 billion from the levies collected from employers for training development programmes.
The report also revealed that as of March 2024, the investments made by HRD Corp are worth RM3.84 billion at market value.
“It needs to be reminded that HRD Corp is not an investment institution.
“The activities are dangerous and can put HRD Corp at huge risk and can expose HRD Corp to huge losses,” Mas Ermieyati said.
For the record, HRD Corp was established to drive Malaysia’s talent development aspirations through the collection of levies from registered employers and the funding of training and development programmes for the country’s workforce.
HRD Corp’s CEO since 2020 is Shahul Hameed Sheikh Dawood.
Have monitoring, guidelines
Further, Mas Ermieyati suggested that HRD Corp ensure that every investment activity is monitored by investment panels and the company’s board of directors with more transparency and order.
“Panel investments are required to report investment activities to the boards when requested, as enshrined in the Human Resources Development Fund Act 2001, and not only to the board chairperson.
“HRD Corp also needs to establish guidelines for the procurement of assets, not only limited to the Limits of Authority and standard operating procedures, so that there is a consistent procedural process,” the Masjid Tanah MP added.
She called on the Human Resources Ministry to appoint an independent consultant to conduct forensic audits on the effectiveness of the training programmes conducted under HRD Corp, saying it should not be limited to programmes under government grants.
“It should also take into account all complaints in the implementation of the programme. The forensic report must be presented back to the PAC.
“The Human Resources Ministry needs to play a bigger role in monitoring and examining agreements signed by HRD Corp with third parties as well as the programmes implemented. It should also obtain views from the ministry’s legal adviser, if necessary.”
However, when asked if any action should be taken against Shahul Hameed, Mas Ermieyati said it is in the hands of the Human Resources Ministry to decide.
“PAC can only offer recommendations, we do not have the power to take actions.
“It’s
entirely up to the Human Resources Ministry to review the power of the
executives and CEOs as well as the investment panels.” - Malaysiakini, 4/7/2024
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