HR Ministry governance reforms began even before audits were finished, says Sim

KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Resources Ministry embarked on various reforms to improve governance even before the audit was completed, says its minister Steven Sim.

This included the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp), he added.

Sim said he was appointed minister in December last year while the issues raised in the Auditor-General's (A-G) Report and by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) were for the period 2019-2023.

"In these six months, even before the audit was completed, the ministry embarked on various reforms to improve governance throughout the whole (structure)," he said in a statement on Sunday (July 7).

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"Within HRD Corp, among others, we set up new risk and audit committees to ensure better financial management.

"Tighter procedures to govern investment were also put in place.

"A new Strategic Initiatives Fund (SIF) was created to separate levy funds. These should only be utilised for training purposes by employers for their employees.

"SIF is funded from the profits of HRD Corp and marked to be used to support various skills training and human capital development initiatives," he said.

For example, the funds could be used to help smaller SMEs that may have limited levies to train their workers and give skills training to vulnerable groups, he explained.

Sim added that the ministry also introduced short-term measures to improve training quality and encourage higher utilisation of the levy by employers for human capital development.

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He said he had also instructed the ministry and HRD Corp to give their full cooperation to the audit process by both the A-G and PAC after being informed of the audits when he took office.

Sim noted the immediate response by the ministry after both reports were tabled, which also saw a report filed with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) within 24 hours.

This showed the ministry's aspiration to have the highest level of accountability and integrity, he said.

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Sim added that he instructed ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee and HRD Corp chief executive officer Datuk Wira Shahul Dawood to file the report.

The statements issued by Khairul Dzaimee, HRD Corp chairman Abu Huraira Abu Yazid and Sim himself within 24 hours of the reports being tabled showed "seriousness and that the leadership took charge of the situation immediately", the minister said. – Bernama