KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 26): The Public Accounts Committee will start tracking Lembaga Tabung Haji’s progress in implementing recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry.
The bipartisan parliamentary committee, however, would not re-investigate the matters already examined by the commission, chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin stressed in a statement. The formal title, terms of reference or witnesses for the proceedings have yet to be determined.
“Instead, they will focus on the actual status and progress” of implementing the recommendations, in line with the committee’s core functions, she said.
The announcement came a day after Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi backed calls for an examination of the pilgrims fund board’s management after the period covered by the royal panel.
Zahid had said that the task is more appropriate for the committee due to its clear mandate to scrutinise financial management and governance than setting up another Royal Commission of Inquiry.
Mas Ermieyati’s statement, however, made clear that the precise period and scope of the proceedings have yet to be decided. She said the commission’s disclosures were extremely serious and could erode the confidence of Muslims if not dealt with appropriately.
Several questions continue to be raised after the report was disclosed and subsequently debated during the special Dewan Rakyat sitting on Aug 11, she noted.
To ensure that the inquiry is comprehensive, transparent and accountable, the committee will examine the report as well as reports by the auditor general and by PricewaterhouseCoopers, she added.
The six-member commission, chaired by former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif, was set up in 2022 to investigate the management and operations of Tabung Haji amid concerns over its financials as well as compliance with the law governing the board.
The commission’s report was declassified and released publicly on July 29 — nearly four years after its completion — with 25 recommendations aimed at improving Tabung Haji’s governance, financial reporting, investment discipline and institutional oversight.
The government said that more than 75% of the recommendations had been implemented as of late July, while Tabung Haji was working on those that remained outstanding. The government has pledged to expedite the remaining reforms.
A former chief executive of Tabung Haji has been detained by authorities on Aug 21, the latest to be snagged in the investigations following the release of the report.