Suspended Mara chairperson Annuar Musa has been summoned to face the federal agency’s internal audit committee at its meeting to be held tomorrow.

Mara interim chairperson Yusof Yacob today said Annuar has been called to ensure justice in ongoing investigations of graft allegations linked to sponsorship of The Red Warriors, Kelantan’s official football team.

“(The meeting) is not today, it's tomorrow morning. We made the decision that he goes on leave the other day didn't we? Of course (Annuar is called) to ensure justice.

“But I do not know what time (is the meeting)…We have to leave it to the (audit) committee. I don’t know, maybe the meeting would take a long time,” Yusof told reporters when met at Mara’s headquarters after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Universiti Sains Malaysia.

On Jan 31, a Mara emergency board meeting decided to suspend Annuar, who was abroad on Mara matters at the time, with immediate effect as chairperson as well as head of Pelaburan Mara Bhd.

Last Friday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had also questioned Annuar for four hours over allegations of abuse of power and misappropriation of funds.

Yusof, who is temporarily acting as Mara chairperson in Annuar’s absence, said he accepts the responsibility as long as Mara could keep moving forward.

“I have been entrusted. To me, anyone could have been (entrusted) as long as Mara moves forward. I didn’t even ask for this. We will carry on with our responsibilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, when asked about the suggestion to set up a fee-based Mara Junior Science College (MRSM), Yusof said the matter is still being discussed.

He said Mara would set up one fee-based MRSM before deciding its next move.

“We are considering to implement this because there are a lot of requests. Many people of means also want to study at MRSM.

“So we want to offer it to them. We have 52 MRSM. Some people didn’t get in and were disappointed, and we want to provide opportunities and the same curriculum. For now, we will try one first,” he said.

However, he said Mara has yet to decide which schooling session to start the scheme.

Previously, Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said setting up fee-based MRSM would help children from low-income families to further their studies.

He said the new MRSM for those who can pay for it would be advantageous to the low income group, because they won’t have to compete for the same vacancies.

Nevertheless, the suggestion is still under preliminary study and have yet to be brought to the Mara Council for deliberation, nor has it been referred to the ministry for approval.