PUTRAJAYA: Parti Negara today urged the home ministry to cancel the licence of a firm previously accused of making millions of ringgit from processing foreign student visa applications, claiming that it also threatens national security.
The recently formed political party headed by the former political secretary of PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim submitted a memorandum on the matter to Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
It claimed that immigration officers were stationed at the headquarters of the company in Kuala Lumpur instead of the immigration department.
The party also claimed that sensitive information about the national immigration system had fallen into “foreign hands” as the company is headed by a Sri Lankan national.
The memorandum was received by Mohd Naaim Mahmod, the principal private secretary to the home minister.
Parti Negara pro tem vice-president S Gobi Krishnan said the ministry gave its assurance that it would investigate the matter.
In 2014, Scicom (MSC) Bhd entered into an agreement with the government-owned Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) to manage foreign student visa applications.
In May, Parti Negara urged the education ministry to end its contract with the firm, which was signed by the previous government through the then-higher education ministry, headed by Khaled Nordin.
In its memorandum to the ministry, Parti Negara, which was formed by former PKR Youth chief Mohamad Ezam Nor, said the company had made a profit of RM94 million last year, half of which it attributed to its contract with EMGS.
It also claimed that Scicom had been charging RM1,000 per student but offering no other value-added services.
It said the bulk of the work of managing student visas was still undertaken by the immigration department.
Scicom denied the accusations, calling them malicious and defamatory.
Its senior vice-president, Yeeling Wong, told FMT that before Scicom put its system into place, it took between two and four months for student visas to be issued by the immigration department.
“Today, our turnaround time for complete and fully vetted applications is less than seven working days.
“The purpose of EMGS in this regard has been fully achieved,” she said.
She added that some of the key modules and applications which had been implemented included an international student application and registration system, student web portal and student tracking system, medical screening and processing system, business intelligence and analytics system, passport tracking system through wireless devices, biometric system and insurance processing system.
She said the company also provides round-the-clock support.
“The CEO happens to be a Sri Lankan national with a Malaysian PR. We do not understand how this can be seen to be illegal in any form.” - FMT
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