Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim (pic) said an audit must be conducted on the project which has entered its third year of operation.
“The government has allocated RM75 million in 2014 for the project and RM100 million in 2015 under the programme called Foreigners Biometric System and National Security Nexcode System,” he said.
Under this programme, the government pays RM50 for each temporary work pass produced which, according to Sim, will cost the government about RM69.3 million based on the number of passes issued so far (1,386,591) in 2013.
However, Sim said the government’s financial statements showed that it has paid RM105.2 million to the company.
“The numbers are confusing. Does this mean that the government has overpaid the company in the amount of RM35.9 million or there were other payments which were not announced to the public or we have misplaced the data of 718,000 foreigners who are missing from the Immigration Department’s records even though the passes have been issued and money paid to the company?” asked Sim.
Sim also questioned Putrajaya’s allocation to tackling human trafficking in the country.
“For a government that always comes up with additional budget almost every year it is perplexing that it only allocated RM4 million to this problem. This reflects the government’s lack of seriousness in tackling this crime,” said Sim.
Pointing to United States government’s downgrading of Malaysia along with three other countries – Thailand, The Gambia and Venezuela – to Tier 3 in its annual Trafficking of Persons (TIP) Report, Sim said: “This gives a negative impact to our economy.”
The report, released last June, also noted that there is ample evidence of forced labour and sex trafficking in Malaysia.
- TMI
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