KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wants the Human Resources Ministry to table the independent audit findings into the Human Resources Development Corp (HRD Corp) to the committee.
PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin welcomed minister Steven Sim’s call for an audit to be conducted on the training fund by an independent firm.
This follows PAC’s own report and the Auditor-General’s audit findings on HRD Corp.
“The PAC was informed that the ministry will appoint an independent audit firm on July 31, 2024, to conduct an audit on HRD Corp and that was the right move taken by the ministry in restoring the people’s faith in a company limited by government guarantee (CLBG),” she said in a statement Thursday (July 11).
Mas Ermieyati said this goes to show that the minister is holding on to promises not to hide the truth.
“At the same time, the PAC wants the Human Resources Ministry to table the findings of the independent audit to the committee once the ministry and HRD Corp are called again for a follow-up proceeding in September,” she said.
She said Sim’s action should be an example for other Cabinet members.
Suspicious real estate deals and high-risk investments were some of the issues identified by the PAC in its report on HRD Corp.
One such deal was the purchase of Menara Ikhlas for RM202.5mil in February 2021, where a deposit of RM120mil was paid upfront to a company called Crystal Clear Technology.