KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 10): As much as RM58.57 million in losses were incurred when Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) delayed initiating the compensation claim process against scholarship holders who breached their contracts, the Auditor General's Report 2022 revealed.
The report identified 259 scholarship holders who breached their contracts by failing to complete their studies within the specified timeframes, resulting in damages totalling RM52.34 million.
As of Dec 31, 2021, UiTM had yet to obtain approval from the Human Resources Career Development Committee (JKI-PKSM) to initiate compensation claims totalling RM42.63 million against 201 out of these 259 scholarship holders who had been in breach of their contracts since 1999.
Moreover, the process of claiming damages from the remaining 58 scholarship holders, totalling RM9.71 million, had not been initiated, despite having received approval from JKI-PKSM.
The report also highlighted an incident in 2019 when UiTM's Finance and Development Committee wrote off claims against 86 out of 381 scholarship holders who had breached their contracts, resulting in a total loss of RM6.23 million.
Although claim notices were issued to all 86 scholarship holders for breach of contract, actions to claim compensation, such as initiating lawsuits in court and implementing judicial execution and salary deductions, remained unimplemented.
To ensure compliance with financial regulations, the auditor recommended that UiTM take measures to guarantee effective compliance and implementation of circulars, work procedures, and contracts for compensation claims against scholarship holders who breach their contracts.
Additionally, the report underscored the necessity for UiTM to enhance its circulars and compensation claim contracts, providing comprehensive explanations of the procedures for terminating legal actions against scholarship holders who breach their contracts by completing their studies outside the designated study period.
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