KUALA LUMPUR – Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar can exercise various options to clear the name of the troubled Human Resource Development Corp (HRD Corp), said his predecessor, DAP vice-chairman M. Kulasegaran.
Following alleged misappropriation in the contract procurement process valued between RM53 million and RM159.47 million a year, Kulasegaran said fellow party member Sivakumar had the discretion to remove key officials in HRD Corp.
On this, Kulasegaran, who was human resources minister between May 2018 and February 2020, said the power to appoint, remove or transfer a chief executive officer for HRD Corp lies with the minister as outlined in the Human Resources Development Act 2001.
“I would have formed a governance oversight committee.
When I was appointed minister in 2018, within a few weeks, I noticed a lot of allegations of wrongdoings in that department (HRD Corp)...a report was prepared, and action was taken.”
Kulasegaran told The Vibes in an interview that the ministry can help resolve HRD Corp’s problems by forming a committee that would come up with an independent report.
“A minister may not know the nitty-gritty (details) of a certain department, but an independent report by those with expertise on the matter will reveal all that.
“So, it doesn’t stop the minister from appointing one (committee).
(When I was minister) I also made sure that the report was put online (for public viewing) because we are talking about millions in public funds.”
According to a letter sighted by The Vibes recently, the Finance Ministry (MoF) suggested that a senior officer at HRD Corp – who also happens to be on its board – attempted to mislead MoF by suggesting that they received approval from HRD Corp’s board to proceed with the Skills Passport programme.
It is understood that MoF’s letter was based on HRD Corp’s board meeting minutes dated October 6, 2022.
MoF said that the minutes made reference to a report titled Proposal to approve Skills Passport instead, which was allegedly inaccurate, given that the board’s consent for the project was never sought.
However, HRDCorp denied allegations made in an article on alleged discrepancies in the contract and procurement process of the Skills Passport initiative.
In a statement, it said the issues highlighted in the article by The Vibes, which included information based on a letter by a MoF official, had been resolved at board level in HRD Corp.
The issues surrounding the initiative have come to light after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s recent arrests of aides linked to Sivakumar over graft allegations involving migrant worker recruitment.
Sivakumar’s statement was also taken.
Yesterday, The Vibes reported Kulasegaran as saying that DAP’s reputation as a party with zero tolerance for corruption was somewhat smeared by the scandal at the Human Resources Ministry.
He added that while Sivakumar has not been accused of wrongdoing, the fact that five of his officers were picked up by graft busters within three months of the new Madani government’s formation is embarrassing for DAP. – The Vibes, May 30, 2023
