KUALA LUMPUR – The clean-up of the Human Resources Ministry has begun with two senior officers being transferred and more heads are expected to roll.
It is learnt that the two officers, including a head of department, were sent to the dreaded civil servants “pool”, as approved by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali.
It is believed that the reason for their transfer is due to the foreign worker recruitment fiasco that saw the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) arresting four people.
They included aides to Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar and a foreign worker recruitment agent.
Sivakumar himself was subjected to six hours of questioning but was not detained.
All those arrested were subsequently released after their remand orders expired.
The ministry has come under intense scrutiny following the establishment of the unity government headed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim facilitating foreign worker recruitment among the first on his to-do list.
The Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) under the ministry has also been in the news for the wrong reasons following revelations that a board member had accused the chief executive of misleading the board on the Skills Passport programme.
Datuk Rosli Yaakub, who is the representative of the Finance Ministry, said in a letter to HRD Corp chairman and chief executive that the latter had committed the corporation to a contract that was awarded to a company with 50% foreign ownership, where HRD Corp was facing a financial commitment of up to RM159 million a year. – The Vibes, May 19, 2023
