HR Ministry embarked on governance reforms before completion of audit

Thursday 08 Aug 2024

KUALA LUMPUR (July 7): The Human Resources (HR) Ministry had embarked on various reforms to improve governance throughout the whole ministry even before the audit was completed, including within the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp).

Its minister Steven Sim Chee Keong said he was appointed as minister in December last year, while the issues raised in the Auditor General's (AG) 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, the HR Ministry had embarked on various reforms to improve governance throughout the whole ministry. Within HRD Corp, among others, we had 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) was 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 mid-sized 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 here on Sunday.

Sim added that the ministry introduced short-term measures to improve training quality and encourage higher utilisation of the levy by employers, ensuring that it to be utilised as much as possible, and as quickly as possible, for human capital development.

In the statement, Sim said he had instructed the HR Ministry and HRD Corp to give full cooperation, with "no holds barred" to the audit process, both by AG and the PAC, when he was duly informed of the audit when he took office.

Sim noted the immediate response by the HR Ministry after both reports were tabled, which also saw a report filed with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) within 24 hours, showing the HR Ministry's aspiration for the highest level of accountability and integrity.

Sim said he had instructed the HR Ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee and the HRD Corp chief executive officer Datuk Wira Shahul Dawood to file the report, which he said is the first in the history of the AG Report.

Three statements were also issued by the minister, Khairul, and the 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".

Uploaded by Liza Shireen Koshy

Text Size