Each year, we will read about the billion ringgit “black hole” in the public finances, and we know that in the following year, Auditor-General Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi will announce that the “black hole” has not been plugged but has become bigger.
When will our public officials be rid of the mindset that “it is someone else's money, so why should we care?”. What steps will be taken to reassure the rakyat that every ringgit of their money is properly spent?
The national audit will reveal the billions of ringgits of taxpayers' money that has been squandered or lost to fraudsters, corruption, tax avoidance or money that has simply been written off.
This is money which could have been used to build schools, hospitals or bridges for the rural children of Sarawak to cross the river to go to school.
Despite the AG highlighting cases of wrongdoing, we do not even know if the officials involved have been punished. Malfeasance appears to be an annual epidemic among public officials.
On Sept 30, Wan Suraya said that the National Audit Department would start auditing 2,000 GLCs at the start of 2025 to enhance governance in Malaysia.
It is a scary thought to be told that 2,000 GLCs have not, thus far, been audited. We appreciate that perhaps one, or two companies may not invite extra scrutiny in a particular year, but 2,000 of them? Is the NAD understaffed, overworked or both?
How many creative management of the funds were these 2,000 GLCs able to get away with?
We want to see heads roll. We cannot and must not accept more excuses, or wrongdoing being swept under the carpet.
We want to see heads of departments being punished to serve as a deterrent to those lower down the pecking order.
Wan Suraya's announcement to audit 2,000 GLCs has reminded us of the NAD's 64 recommendations and the more notable highlights listed in her report last July.
Zahid and the blame game
The RM286 million loss by Mara Inc which the AG mentioned, was glibly dismissed by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as a “poor investment”, two days after the publication of the audit.
Zahid, who is also the rural and regional development minister, went on the defensive. He said that several assets bought by Mara Inc abroad were acquired at prices exceeding market value. He pledged to find solutions to prevent similar occurrences.
Then came the blame game and deflection of wrongdoing when he said, "The losses at Mara Inc have been accumulating since 2012, a period during which I was not responsible for Mara."
Wasn't Zahid a senior politician in the convicted felon, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's cabinet at the time?
The DPM is being disingenuous. Mara and other GLC officials are notorious for making inflated purchases. Remember Mara's controversial purchase of the Unilodge building and also Dudley International House in Melbourne?
Were any Mara officials and ministers punished for this? Theirs was the usual combination of corruption, criminal activity, greed, conflict of interest, self-interest, personal gain, and political affiliation.
The expose was first revealed by the Australian media, with PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, who was at the time the director of the National Oversight and Whistle-blowers (NOW) playing an important role in highlighting the Mara scandal to Malaysians.
Today, what has the government done to stop profiteering by politicians and their cronies? We diligently highlight these excesses and crimes, in successive national audits but to what effect?
Wan Suraya also mentioned that RM3.9 billion had been flushed away in the RM4.4 billion Gombak's River of Life project. This money could have instead been used towards partly funding a flood mitigation plan in flood-prone areas.
Who were the officials, politicians and crony companies involved? Will they be punished or are they still occupying positions of power in the government, civil service or as a highly prized crony?
If that was not enough, we then read a report about the RM400 million worth of spare parts for the Defence Ministry, which was deemed not usable for one reason or another.
Another case involves many names and identities having been duplicated several times, claiming to have attended the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) training programme, the resultant wastage amounting to RM52 million.
In addition, around RM374,000 in the National Council of Professors’ funds were misused to benefit two companies in which two trustees have a stake.
The president of the council pleaded not guilty to seven charges of criminal breach of trust involving RM271,000 of the council’s funds.
Meanwhile, the CEO of a company connected to the MPN pleaded not guilty to charges of colluding with him.
Isn't it strange that the lower the amount pilfered, the punishment appears to be more swift than if the amount embezzled is in the hundreds of millions of ringgits?
Unconvincing assurances
The Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said that the issues raised by the AG had been discussed in the cabinet meeting and he conveyed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's message to address the issues raised by the AG report.
However, when Fahmi said, "Generally, it is up to the respective minister or agency related to or involved with any audited institution to take follow-up actions", our confidence that ministers would seal shut the bottomless money pit faltered.
Our trust simply got shattered. - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, X.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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