JOHOR BARU – The Human Resource Development Corp (HRD Corp) should ensure transparency and refrain from hiding behind the cloak of the Official Secrets Act 1972, lawyers said.
These comments come in light of the recent revelation by The Vibes of a Finance Ministry letter to HRD Corp highlighting discrepancies over a contract procurement process valued at RM53 million to RM159.47 million annually.
In addition to threatening legal action, HRD Corp responded in a press statement stating that the matters in the letter have already been addressed at board meetings, further suggesting that the document is also protected under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA).
Lawyer Lim Wei Jiet expressed the view that the OSA is an outdated piece of legislation inconsistent with the principles of transparency, adding that it goes against the values of the Madani government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Commenting further, Lim said that the OSA, if applicable, should be limited to key national secrets such as defence, foreign relations and sensitive financial matters.
“It certainly cannot be used to shield financial wrongdoing or impropriety which may be possibly committed by government bodies.
“For far too long, it has been abused to prevent scrutiny on documents and deals that must receive coverage because it concerns taxpayer money, at the end of the day.
“Maybe HRD Corp should focus on the merits of the allegation rather than the manner in which the letter came about,” Lim told The Vibes.
Meanwhile, sharing similar sentiments, lawyer and PKR Youth legal bureau chief Asheeq Ali opined that such documents should not fall under the OSA.
He also suggested that the decision by HRD Corp to threaten legal action over the revelation does nothing but threaten media freedom.
“All that was said by HRD Corp via the statement was a bare denial and HRD Corp went further to threaten legal action and question the credibility of The Vibes.
“HRD Corp’s statement was really unnecessary as it is nothing but a threat to media freedom,” Asheeq said when contacted.
Furthermore, given that HRD Corp is a government agency dealing with public funds, Asheeq said it should have instead offered transparent and accountable explanations for the issues that were raised.
“Government agencies, especially like the HRD Corp, which handles billions of public funds should not hide behind the legal curtain of OSA to hide their dealings of the funds, instead they should be accountable and transparent for each and every ringgit of public funds spent,” Asheeq added.
Application of OSA explained
Sabah Law Society president Roger Chin took the opportunity to explain the application of the OSA on government documents.
Under the legislation, he said, “official secrets” pertain to documents in the act and other materials classified as top secret, secret, confidential or restricted by a minister, menteri besar, chief minister or any public officer under Section 2B of the OSA.
These include cabinet and state government documents, including records of decisions and deliberations.
“Documents concerning national security, defence and international relations (also fall under the act),” Chin said.
During a brief conversation with The Vibes, Chin also made reference to a press statement he issued last year calling for the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act.
He said the introduction of such legislation would fundamentally award rights to the public to request information from the government.
Chin also said in the statement that Malaysia’s current system to obtain information is tightly regulated by the OSA.
“The OSA was modelled after the English legislation and was first introduced to combat any attempt by civil servants to indulge in spying and espionage.
“However, the amendment to the OSA in 1986 widens the statute’s scope in criminalising all types of communication of official secrets,” Chin said. – The Vibes, May 9, 2023
