KUALA LUMPUR: Immediate assistance has been provided to approximately 7,779 cooperatives that failed to maintain their accounts as required by the Cooperative Societies Act 1993, says Datuk Seri R. Ramanan (pic).
The Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister told the Dewan Rakyat that 2,304 cooperatives have not audited their accounts as needed under Section 60 of the same Act.
"These issues are being resolved through extensive guidance and training, as well as support from the Malaysian Cooperative Societies Commission (SKM) to help them prepare the necessary accounts."
"Once they receive assistance, such as grants, revolving capital aid, or participation in programs like the Cooperative Tourism Activity Assistance, these issues will be addressed," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Dr Richard Rapu @ Aman Begri (GPS-Betong) during Question Time, who asked the ministry to state the figures of cooperatives that did not maintain and audit their account as required by the existing laws.
The deputy minister said that his ministry, through SKM, remained committed to regulating the cooperative movement in the country to prevent cooperatives from experiencing financial management issues.
He said several preventive measures have been implemented through appropriate guidelines as best practices in cooperatives' governance and operational activities, including issuing guidelines on special investment schemes and governance guidelines for cooperatives.
He added that other measures were also taken to protect cooperative members from significant losses, including ensuring cooperative members have a clear understanding of the investment activities or products introduced by cooperatives, with approval from SKM.
He said that the ministry also advised members to consult SKM for clarification if there are doubts regarding cooperative activities.
"SKM had also taken preventive and intervention actions on public complaints concerning suspicious cooperative activities," said Ramanan.
