PETALING JAYA: Yayasan Hijau Malaysia (YHM), which aims to promote a green lifestyle among Malaysians, has not fully achieved its objectives, according to the Auditor-General's Report 2021 Series 1.
However, it reported that the foundation was financially stable and that its corporate governance was at a satisfactory level.
It said YHM, which was established in 2013, did not prepare key performance indicators (KPI) and the only KPI prepared in 2020 was for the chief executive officer, which consists of fundraising, operational expenditure and project KPI aspects.
"Only 50% of the fundraising and operational expenditure KPI targets were achieved.
"Project KPI was not set. In addition, YHM was unable to maintain the minimum operating reserve ratio at 0.60 as targeted," it said.
The report also revealed that the role and direction of YHM's operations had deviated from its original objectives.
It added that the management of its Green Guardian programme was less than efficient with RM990,000 in funds unutilised.
"In addition, there were operating fee arrears amounting to RM3.31mil. The programme was in operation from October 2018 to February 2020.
"There were weaknesses in the aspects of corporate governance regarding the lengths of service of board of trustees (BOT) members, preparation of programme standard operating procedure (SOP), targets setting and achievement of KPI, the appointment of audit committee chairman and the qualification of its committee members, as well as the establishment of internal audits," the report said.
The government allocated a total of RM52.62mil to the foundation from 2013 until 2022.
Comprehensive and measurable output targets should be put in place so that the programme implementation has clear direction, said the report.
It further explained that the results of the programme need to be evaluated to determine the impact and effectiveness of the programme in line with the foundation's objectives.
"YHM also needs to strengthen the governance practices in the aspect of BOT, SOP, strategic plans and KPI, Audit Committee and internal audit," it added.
In response, YHM said the foundation was affected by the movement control order due to the Covid-19 pandemic that resulted in it failing to collect funds during the 2020 to 2022 financial years.
"The foundation has resumed its efforts to increase fundraising activities. As of June 19, a total of RM5.11mil has been raised through donations and memoranda of understanding inked," it said.
Responding to the operational direction deviation, YHM said the activities held by the foundation was under the supervision of the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and were in line with the foundation's objectives.
One of the activities was the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change programme that aimed to attract interest among primary and secondary school students in rural areas towards science, technology and climate change issues, it said.
