2nd 2014 A-G Report: PM's Department among those to be called up

The other three are the Finance Ministry, Education Ministry and the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry.

PAC chairman, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said he was taken aback by the weaknesses in the financial management procedures within the four ministries.

“Last year, I had mentioned that the PAC was getting happier with how the government is managed, it looks like we have to retract that statement,” he told newsmen in Parliament today.

In addition, the Agriculture NKEA (National Key Economic Area) project, the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Hotel Seri Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Customs and several public universities will also be called up for poor financial management.

Nur Jazlan said the PM’s Department will be called to explain on the maintenance cost of MMEA’s boats and vessels, which amounted to RM231 million.

“There’s also the issue of improper payment. We will call up those involved to get their explanation on their financial management procedures,” he said.

For the agriculture ministry, he said there were projects spearheaded by the ministry that was not completed within the time frame and also failed to achieve its targets.

“Another issue that cropped up was a contract worth more than RM100 million that was signed by the secretary-general instead of the minister himself,” he said.

For the NCIA, Nur Jazlan said five companies that had been entrusted with managing their respective projects, were selected via direct negotiations as opposed to a tender process.

As for the public universities, he said PAC questions the financial management by the National Defense University of Malaysia (UPNM), University of Malaya (UM) and the University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), among others.

He said the financial management of the universities was still weak.

“If their financial management is weak, how can these universities be given autonomy?” asked Nur Jazlan.

He said for the ministries, the respective secretary-generals will be called in for explanation.

“We are calling them because we want to give them the message that we are watching them,” he added.

Earlier today, Bernama reported that Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang had submitted 241 recommendations in the 2nd Series of his report for 2014, tabled in Parliament today.

Ninety proposals were for the Federal Government, 56 for federal statutory bodies and 95 were for state governments to address their weaknesses and make improvements.