Zoo Negara rejects claims of mismanagement, pilfering

 

Zoo Negara was reported to have only enough funds to last a few months.

PETALING JAYA: Zoo Negara has rejected claims of mismanagement made by former veterinarians who alleged they knew about skimming of food payments, staff favouritism, and the pocketing of ticket collections during their tenure.

The allegations had arisen in the wake of reports saying that the zoo, which is run by the Malaysian Zoological Society, had funds sufficient to last only a few months.

Rosly @ Rahmat Ahmat Lana, deputy president of the society, said the zoo had been struggling to attract a steady flow of visitors over the past two decades.

The rise of the internet as a source of information and entertainment, and the increasing number of attractions such as malls and theme parks in the Klang Valley had affected the zoo’s revenue, he said.

He described the allegations of favouritism as being the sort that would gain “urban legend” status.

Rosly said the zoo had a policy of granting all permanent employees an annual salary increment of 5% to 6% based on the zoo’s performance, with promotions based on an employee’s annual achievements.

On food purchasing, he said there was a dedicated procurement committee which obtained supplies from reputable vendors. “Pilfering is unlikely.”

On skimming of gate collections, which he called “unfounded,” Rosly said the zoo now had an automated ticketing system that is monitored daily by the finance team.

The allegations of zoo mismanagement were raised by former veterinarians S Vellayan and Reza Singam in an FMT interview. They called for an overhaul of the zoo’s management, and urged that the zoo be taken over by a government unit.

They also called for detailed annual reports to be published, as was done before.

However, Rosly said that the zoological society was not required to disclose financial information to the public, but only to registered members at their annual meetings.

On the future of the zoo, Rosly said: “We are in consultation with relevant stakeholders such as the ministry of water, land and natural resources and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia, as well as with members of the Malaysian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria to come up with short-term, medium-term and long-term plans.

“Until then, various cost optimisation initiatives are in place to reduce our daily operational costs by identifying the right opportunities and making data-driven decisions.” - FMT