Audit reveals incomplete documents for 13 uCustoms' payment vouchers worth RM64.89 mln

According to the report, documents such as meeting minutes are important to determine the approval of payment claims.

"The absence of complete supporting documents can result in payments being made outside the scope of the service.

"The Audit found that the payment was not carried out properly and there could be improper payments amounting to RM64.89 million because they were not supported by the relevant documents," read the report.

The audit revealed that only 29 vouchers amounting to RM200.69 million could be verified because they had complete supporting documents.

Treasury Direction 99 (a) states that all vouchers or electronic vouchers must be supported by complete supporting documents.

"It is to enable vouchers to be checked without referring to any document other than that attached to it," according to LKAN.

LKAN also revealed that the development of the uCustoms system failed to be completed within seven years two months (86 months) after five EOTs (Supplementary Contracts) were awarded.

According to LKAN, the feasibility study was not conducted before the uCustoms system project was implemented.

"Clause 6 (a) of the uCustoms Main Contract stipulates that uCustoms must be completed within 24 months from Oct 25, 2013, to Oct 24, 2015.

"The contract clause stipulates the development and testing of applications, launch and change management are implemented during system development," read the report.

The report stated that the objective of developing the uCustoms system was to improve the efficiency of customs services as well as meet international standards through a single gateway for a fast, secure and customer-friendly electronic system.

"Until Dec 31, 2020, the uCustoms system failed to be completed and subsequently could not be used for the operation of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) by the target group," it added.

In this regard, several recommendations were submitted by the Audit to JKDM to conduct a comprehensive study of the requirements of the JKDM system before developing a new system.

In addition, JKDM should maintain and update system development documents so that future system development can be done efficiently, orderly and comprehensively, it said.

"The system must ensure government data is secured and information is preserved," it added.