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PETALING JAYA: There will be an independent audit on HRD Corp by the Human Resources Ministry, says its minister Steven Sim.
The ministry will appoint a third-party auditor to examine all processes, documentation and compliance with laws, as well as any guidelines as raised in the National Audit Department (JAN) and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports.
“The procurement process to appoint the auditor is expected to be done by July 31, and the duration of the audit and report publication will be determined after the appointment,” he said.
Sim said the audit will be concurrent with the investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and other relevant parties.
The HRD Corp has been instructed to fully cooperate with the investigations, he added.
The minister also said a special task force is established to facilitate the investigation, review the reports and findings from the MACC and the independent audit.
"Follow-up actions, including improvements, will be implemented following this," he said.
The task force is chaired by the ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
The actions are taken following the findings by the Auditor-General and PAC reports in Parliament on July 4.
It was found that HRD Corp had invested levies collected from employers in several high-risk investments despite the training fund not being an investment institution.
HRD Corp chairman Datuk Abu Huraira Abu Yazid has acknowledged the shortcomings found in the audit reports, adding that the training fund had implemented several improvements, which helped increase levy collection over the years.
Calls for the chief executive Datuk Shahul Hameed Dawood to step down were made in Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (July 9).
