COMMENT | If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. This is precisely what the head honcho of a government agency has decided to do.

After enduring two hours of torment and criticism at a town hall meeting of the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) on Thurday, CEO CM Vigneswaran has offered to resign.

According to industry sources, he is seeking a “dignified” exit with a compensation package under the HRDF’s mutual separation scheme.

Among others, he was accused of favouritism in the appointment of training providers. It was claimed that the sharks got millions of ringgit, while the majority of ikan bilis were left with crumbs.

One speaker after another heaped condemnation of malpractices which touched on illegalities in the agency. They were made in the presence of Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran and the ministry’s secretary-general, Mohd Gazali Abas.

An embarrassed Vigneswaran could only hide the displeasure and discontent with smattering answers with a wry smile on his face.

Meanwhile, the head of K-Pintar Sdn Bhd, RA Thiagaraja resigned from the HRDF board on Friday morning – before he could be removed as promised by the minister. There were complaints that his appointment was a conflict of interest because he was also a training provider.

At Thursday’s meeting, training providers complained that they were in a disadvantageous position because one of their kind were on the board. Kulasegaran said if the claims were indeed true, the director “would be removed by Monday morning.”

In an interview yesterday, Vigneswaran scoffed at the claims, and suggested that some of the complaints came from trainers who were providing bogus training schemes.

According to documents that were made available to this writer, one document titled “List of approved associations and government authority (sic) under in-base programme”, provides even more shocking details.

Among the 11 courses offered under the auspices of the Penang governor’s office included “Change management certification programme”; “Certificate in integrated logistics management”; and “Customs procedures and documentation” which have no relevance to those employed in the governor’s office.

It is learned that funding for this project has been stopped pending an inquiry.

Why would employees in the governor’s office need such training? One source said this is one of the many ingenious ways that certain providers have taken to milk the HRDF, which has close to RM1 billion in fixed deposits.

But where were the checks and scrutiny before approval of such courses?

The HRDF provides funds for companies to provide training and skills development of their employees through firms accredited as training providers. Employers contribute one percent of their monthly payroll towards this fund.

Over the years, however, 30 percent of the money collected was put in a different pool to meet the training needs of SMEs, societies and trade associations.

A scrutiny of the documents also showed that the National Press Club was allocated money for its members to attend a five-day course in “Industry 4.0 and digitalisation programme for media.” Twenty-five journalists attended the course in Berlin.

The Malaysian Budget Hotel Association was allocated funds for an “Online (English) language training programme.” Similarly, the Terengganu secretariat was given an allocation for “painting inspector’s” course. Even service providers’ request for funds to run a human resources training course was approved.

A perusal of the list appears to show some dubious organisations, some of which were formed solely for the purposes of drawing money from the pool. The HRDF has detected over 50 such cases which have been referred to the authorities.

The Societies Act 1966 provides for any seven people to form and register an organisation.

Besides, the act does not give non-members access to reports and accounts. Hence, there are a few “father, mother and sons” societies. Their membership is restricted to family members and their close circle of friends.

The sources said the HRDF turned a blind eye to such societies which drew large sums of money from the pool for “training purposes.” It is learned that Kulasegaran has ordered a complete review of the HRDF’s structure, activities and its operations.

R NADESWARAN will continue to highlight cases of misuse public funds using the guise of ‘training.’ Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.

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