KUALA LUMPUR – The Human Resources Ministry (Kesuma) has embarked on various reforms to improve governance throughout the ministry even before the audit was completed, including within the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp).
Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong, said he was appointed to his position in December last year while the issues raised in the Auditor-General’s (A-G) report and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) were for the period from 2019 to 2023.
“In these six months, even before the audit was completed, Kesuma has embarked on various reforms to improve governance throughout the whole ministry. Within HRD Corp, among others, we set up a new risk committee and a new audit committee to ensure better financial management.
“Tighter procedures to govern investment were also put in place. A new Strategic Initiatives Fund (SIF) is created to clearly separate levy funds. Levy funds should only be fully utilised for training purposes by employers for their employees.”
“SIF is funded from profits of HRD Corp and is marked to be used to support various skills training and human capital development initiatives, for example, to assist smaller SMEs (small and midsize enterprises) who may not have or have very limited HRD Corp levy to train their workers and to provide skills training for vulnerable groups,” he said in a statement today.
Sim added that the ministry introduced short-term measures to improve training quality and encourage higher utilisation of the levy by employers, ensuring it to be utilised as much as possible, as quickly as possible, for human capital development.
In the statement, Sim said he had instructed Kesuma and HRD Corp to give full cooperation with “no holds barred” to the audit process both by the A-G and PAC, when he was duly informed of the audit when he took office.
Sim noted the immediate response by Kesuma after both reports were tabled, which also saw a report filed with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) within 24 hours, showing Kesuma’s aspiration for the highest level of accountability and integrity.
Sim said he had instructed Kesuma’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee and HRD Corp chief executive officer Datuk Wira Shahul Dawood to file the report, which he said is the first in the history of the A-G Report.
Three statements were also issued by the minister, Khairul, and chairman of HRD Corp Datuk Abu Huraira Abu Yazid, also within 24 hours after the reports were tabled, which Sim described as “showing seriousness and that the leadership took charge of the situation immediately.” – July 7, 2024