'Not yet time’ to equate HRD Corp audit to 1MDB scandal - Fahmi

The time has not yet come to equate poor governance of the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) to the 1MDB scandal, according to government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil.

Fahmi said room should be given for lawmakers to debate the latest audit findings on HRD Corp, which has been tabled in Parliament, followed by Human Resource Minister Steven Sim’s response in the Dewan Rakyat.

“Give full room for MPs to debate and the human resources minister to respond.

“The time has not come for us (the government) to make any classifications as what you have suggested,” he said.

He was responding to a direct question on whether the auditor-general’s findings of poor governance in HRD Corp, which resulted in millions of ringgit in losses, could be viewed as the next 1MDB scandal.

Fahmi said Sim had also informed the cabinet today that he has no objections to any related investigations by authorities including the MACC.

“In general, it is up to the respective ministers overseeing any institutions or departments audited to take follow-up actions.

“What is of priority for the prime minister is management, governance and accountability surrounding issues highlighted (in the audit report),” said Fahmi during the weekly post-cabinet press conference at his ministry in Putrajaya.

Earlier today, Human Resources Ministry secretary-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud and HRD Corp chief executive Shahul Hameed Dawood submitted a report on the agency’s mismanagement to the MACC.

Yesterday, Auditor-General Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi in the Auditor-General’s Report 2/2024 recommended that the Human Resources Ministry refer HRD Corp’s management to the relevant enforcement agencies after the government entity failed its audit.

Separately, the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee also disclosed that a total of RM3.77 billion in levies collected from employers for training development programmes had been used by the HRD Corp to make several varied investments that were not the goal of its establishment.

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