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The truth? Ministry did pay RM1.6 million for K-pop concert

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (17)
by Rita Jong
The Malaysian Insider
October 2, 2013

The Youth and Sports Ministry spent RM1.6 million to bring in three South Korean pop groups for the National Youth Day celebrations last year, in contrast to the claim that the cost had been covered by sponsors.

The Auditor-General’s Report revealed yesterday that the money came from the government’s coffers.

The three K-pop groups – U-Kiss, Teen-Top and Dal Shabet – were brought in by Stadium First Sdn Bhd.

A ministry official had reportedly said then that the bill was paid by sponsors.

The report also found the ministry overspending RM1.11 million on promotion and publicity for the event. Continue reading “The truth? Ministry did pay RM1.6 million for K-pop concert”

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Audit finds Registrar of Societies failing in duties

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (16)
by Koh Jun Lin
Malaysiakini
Oct 2, 2013

AUDIT REPORT In contrast with the crackdown on DAP by the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS), the Auditor-General’s Report 2012 has found that enforcement by the ROS lacking.

Among others, a check on its files kept in its Putrajaya, Penang, Johor and Pahang has shown that 90 societies have not submitted any report to the ROS, but no notice was issued against them.

This includes files of 17 of the 31 political parties included in the Putrajaya audit, and that of 150 non-political organisations from the three states. Continue reading “Audit finds Registrar of Societies failing in duties”

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599 potholes = bumpy landing at KK airport

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (15)
by Aidila Razak
Malaysiakini
Oct 2, 2013

AUDIT REPORT Malaysian motorists are not the ones who have to dodge potholes on a daily basis.

Pilots landing aircraft at Kota Kinabalu International Airport, the auditor-general has found, had to deal with 599 potholes in the runway and taxiway, until these were fixed.

Worse, a pilot quoted in the Auditor-General’s Report 2012 complained of difficulty in landing in poor weather, “especially in haze”, as the Instruments Landing System (ILS) has yet to be installed after being bought in June 2008.

The unnamed pilot, who flies with national carrier Malaysia Airlines, told the audit team that the ILS is required for all commercial airlines, and that its absence endangers passenger safety.

The Transport Ministry has countered that the ILS “does not affect the safety of aircraft operations” and that many airports in the world do not have such a system. Continue reading “599 potholes = bumpy landing at KK airport”

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Ministry spends RM320,000 on FB and Twitter

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (14)
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2013

AUDIT REPORT The auditor-general has questioned the Health Ministry’s payment of RM320,000 to two companies to enhance its social media presence by developing two Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The expenditure, during Liow Tiong Lai’s tenure as minister, comprises payment of RM199,068 to Eficaz Media Sdn to develop the first Facebook page for the anti-smoking ‘Tak Nak merokok’ campaign.

The second Facebook page and the Twitter account were developed by Astonish View Sdn Bhd for the ‘Kempen intervensi penyakit tidak berjangkit’ (intervention campaign for non-contagious diseases), costing RM120,500.

The 2012 Audit Report comments that the scope of the two jobs were almost identical and questioned why Astonish View was given RM120,500 to develop Facebook and Twitter, while Eficaz Media was allocated a higher sum to develop one Facebook page. Continue reading “Ministry spends RM320,000 on FB and Twitter”

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Stressed, starved livestock die in Sarawak

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (13)
by Aidila Razak
Malaysiakini
Oct 2, 2013

Being a goat, sheep or a cow in the care of the Sarawak Agriculture Department can be a tenuous thing if the death rates at some special rearing stations are anything to go by.

Livestock deaths – due to stressed or starvation – at the department’s special rearing stations were as high as 74 percent, when the acceptable rate is between 5 to 10 percent, the Auditor-General’s Report 2012 states.

While only 26 percent of its goats survived in 2010, the Karabungan rearing station saw more than half of its cattle die the following year. The cattle survival rates improved remarkable the next year with only 12 of its 182 cows dead.

In Karabungan, the animals died from “falling into feeding troughs, weakness or stress, parasites, liver fluke (and) getting stuck in mud”. Continue reading “Stressed, starved livestock die in Sarawak”

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Auditor-general raises stink over crappy toilet design

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (12)
by Nigel Aw
Malaysiakini
Oct 2, 2013

AUDIT REPORT If you suffer from unpleasant bowel movements and an uncontrollable urge to ease yourself at the Kota Setar district land office complex, then you would be in for a rude shock.

The 2012 Auditor-General’s report, which was released yesterday, revealed the difficulty a person desperate need to answer nature’s call would encounter.

One of the squat toilets in the building was oddly aligned to one side of the cubicle, leaving barely enough foot space.

From one side of the wall, there was merely a margin of 16cm to the toilet but it was 36cm from the other side of the wall.

In response to the auditors, the Kedah state secretariat explained that the toilet design could not be helped due to an error in the initial phase of laying underground pipes.

“Changes could not be made to avoid any leakages,” it said.

RS Iscon Corporation Sdn Bhd was appointed as the main contractor through open tender for the RM15.31 million complex commissioned by the state economic planning unit (Upen) of the Kedah state government.

The building was completed under the then Pakatan Rakyat-led state government though the project itself began under BN’s rule. Continue reading “Auditor-general raises stink over crappy toilet design”

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Discrepancy and inconsistency: Calls for withdrawal of PCA from Parliament

– Datuk Kuthbul Zaman Bukhari and Dr Denison Jayasooria
The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

Proham has identified discrepancy and inconsistency between what is said and what is written in the proposed amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) and calls on the Federal Government to withdraw the bill from Parliament for further consultation and redrafting.

Proham hosted a discussion on the proposed amendments to the PCA yesterday. The review was undertaken by Datuk Kuthbul Zaman Bukhari who led the discussion –paragraph by paragraph.

We identified a number of major concerns and acknowledge that this proposed piece of legislation is a clear backward step away from human rights compliance. We are of the opinion that this is a major assault on human rights since Datuk Seri Najib Razak took office as Prime Minister. We also note that this is inconsistent with the promises he made when he took office as the Prime Minister and in the promises for democratic reform made during the general election (GE13).

We also note that there are major discrepancies and inconsistencies between the verbal statements and assurance made by the Prime Minister, Home Affairs Minister and other ministers and the actual text of the proposed amendments to the PCA. We are told verbally that this new legislation is not a return of the ISA, that this is focused only on criminal-violent gangs and that the decisions will be made by a judge. Continue reading “Discrepancy and inconsistency: Calls for withdrawal of PCA from Parliament”

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Police lose weapons, Customs men lose shoes

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (11)
by Hafiz Yatim
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2013

AUDIT REPORT The Auditor-General’s 2012 report reveals that the Royal Malaysian Police Force recorded a total of 309 missing items in the form of weapons, handcuffs and cars.

It also reported that the Royal Customs Department wasted a whopping RM600,000 on 7,659 pairs of shoes that were not according to specification and were then badly damaged during prolonged storage.

The items missing from the police force were recorded between 2010 and 2012, resulting in losses amounting to RM1.33 million. Continue reading “Police lose weapons, Customs men lose shoes”

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RM73mil CIQ complex illegally built on private land

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (10)
by Nigel Aw
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2013

AUDIT REPORT The RM73 million Malacca Customs and Immigration Quarantine Complex (CIQ) was illegally built on a private land, which eventually cost the Malacca government RM10.8 million, says the Auditor-General’s Report 2012.

The report pointed out that the federal project, which included a jetty, was to be built by Pesona Metro Sdn Bhd on a plot of 1.78 acres at the mouth of the Malacca River.

Melaka River CruiseHowever the building required four acres of land. So, with the help of state authorities, the state government in October 2010 approved an additional 2.22 acres of adjacent land to make up the difference.

The said land was in fact owned by Pembinaan Kota Laksamana (Melaka) Sdn Bhd, which then issued a trespassing notice against the project contractor.

Despite the legal warning, the federal government instructed the contractor to continue with its works, resulting in the land owner filing a lawsuit against the contractor. Continue reading “RM73mil CIQ complex illegally built on private land”

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Millions lost due to Works ministry failure to recoup money from terminated contractors

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (9)
by Rita Jong
The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

The Public Works Department failed to recover RM15.77 million in performance bonds despite terminating 21 government projects.

The Auditor-General’s report which was made public today stated that the department fully recovered 30 performance bonds amounting to RM20.97 million, while only half of another 21 bonds totalling RM26.97 million were recovered.

The amount from the outstanding bonds that were yet to be recovered totalled RM15.77 million. Continue reading “Millions lost due to Works ministry failure to recoup money from terminated contractors”

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Bonus for losses, the GLC way for rewarding employees

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (8)
The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

Seven government-linked companies (GLCs) rewarded their employees with fat bonuses despite recording a combined loss of close to RM2 billion in 2011.

The Auditor-General Report today stated that Syarikat Prasarana Negara, an infrastructure company which had the highest recorded deficit of RM763 million among the group, gave its employees between one-and-a-half and two months bonus each.

The report also found that MIMOS, the country’s research centre, was the most generous of the group, by giving out between two and three months bonus to its employees, despite making a RM4.6 million loss in 2011.

Meanwhile, employees of KTM received the least, with the railway operator distributing ex-gratia payments of a half-month’s salary or a minimum of RM500 in the same year. The company made losses of RM103 million. Continue reading “Bonus for losses, the GLC way for rewarding employees”

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AG’s report reveals ministry official claimed RM300,000 for trip worth under RM50,000

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (7)
by Trinna Leong
The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

The Auditor-General questioned a RM303,813 travel claim by a Communications and Culture Ministry senior officer for a four-day study trip to Geneva, Switzerland, which the auditors felt was worth only RM50,000.

The 2012 Auditor-General Report revealed that even if the officer took a return first-class flight, stayed in the best hotels, wined and dined in fancy restaurants and was given allowances to shop for winter clothing, the final tab would have cost no more than RM50,000.

The claim was made by the officer as part of the ministry’s Malaysian Emergency Response Services (MERS) 999 project. MERS 999 is a government initiative to have only one emergency number, sub-contracted out by the ministry to Telekom Malaysia (TM).

The project, done in phases from 2007 to 2012, cost the government a total of RM801.55 million. Continue reading “AG’s report reveals ministry official claimed RM300,000 for trip worth under RM50,000”

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No funds, so costly wings of cops clipped

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (6)
Hafiz Yatim
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2013

AUDIT REPORT Between June 2008 and December 2010, the Malaysian police purchased five Beechcraft King Air 350 aircraft at a whopping US$58.25 million (RM175.24 million) for its Air Wing.

The planes were supposed to facilitate the upgrading of the nation’s air security.

However, within less than five years of usage, one of the planes had to be grounded for eight months, between September 2011 and April 2012, while another could not be used between June and November 2012.

Furthermore, out of the five, only three aircraft have been delivered so far. Continue reading “No funds, so costly wings of cops clipped”

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RM199m “burnt” as incinerators for waste management become white elephants

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (5)

The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

The Auditor-General Department revealed a waste of RM199 million which was spent on the construction of four incinerators by the National Solid Waste Management Department over the last four years, as there was no expertise to operate such machines once they were built.

The incinerators were built in Langkawi, Pangkor, Tioman and Cameron Highlands.

According to the AG Report released today, the construction of these incinerators was also delayed two to three times from their original schedule.

The report revealed that three of the incinerators were not in operation for between 223 and 642 days, due to the lack of expertise.

The plan to build the fifth incinerator in Labuan also did not take off. Continue reading “RM199m “burnt” as incinerators for waste management become white elephants”

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Clocks, scanners and “miscellaneous items” cost RTM RM9 million, up to 7,200 times over budget

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (4)
by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

The Broadcasting Department blew its budget spending RM120,210 on clocks and scanners alone, thus overpaying for these items by thousands of times beyond its actual cost.

Despite budgeting RM100 per unit for a clock and RM200 per unit for an A4-sized document scanner, the Auditor-General found that the Broadcasting Department spent RM3,810 per unit for “branded” wall clocks and RM14,670 per unit for the scanners.

In the 2012 AG Report, it found the department bought 20 branded wall clocks and three scanners for national broadcaster RTM’s offices in three states.

The department paid RM76,200 for the clocks, which was 3,810% above its estimated budget, and RM44,010 for the scanners, which was 7,235 times more than its initial budget.

The department also bought five scanners for A3 sized documents at an inflated price of RM20,630 each – its estimated budget was RM1,000 each. Continue reading “Clocks, scanners and “miscellaneous items” cost RTM RM9 million, up to 7,200 times over budget”

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Govt overpaid TM by RM11.6m for 999 emergency line, says A-G

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (3)
by Joseph Sipalan
October 1, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 —The government has been told to take back at least RM11.6 million from Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), after the Auditor-General (A-G) detailed a laundry list of “improper payments” and “unreasonable expenses” incurred in the development of the Malaysian Emergency Response System (MERS) 999.

The figure does not include an RM25.88 million lump sum payment made out to the national telecommunications company by the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry, which the auditor in his 2012 report said could not be verified but was given ministry approval.

In his 2012 annual report released today, the A-G identified numerous issues surrounding the RM801.55 million project, where funds were carved out from various parts of the project over the course of its six-year development by TM from 2007 to 2012.

This included some RM5.07 million spent by the ministry to cover the cost of organising training workshops and seminars and related expenses for TM staff, which the A-G described as unreasonable.

He said it must be recouped from the project contractor. Continue reading “Govt overpaid TM by RM11.6m for 999 emergency line, says A-G”

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RM38,000 wasted in Health Ministry’s ‘stupid’ campaign

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (2)
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2013

The Health Ministry’s decision to brand smokers as ‘stupid’ in promotional literature cost it RM38,750 after the material was deemed unsuitable for distribution.

The Auditor-General’s Report 2012 states that the ministry had ordered 300 backpacks costing RM19,500 and 3,500 notepads at RM19,250 with the slogan ‘Smoking, a stupid habit for stupid people’.

But the items never made it into the hands of the citizens as the language was later deemed inappropriate.

But the lingual faux pas was not the ministry’s only mistake. Continue reading “RM38,000 wasted in Health Ministry’s ‘stupid’ campaign”

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Backstabber’s guide to Umno polls

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Sep 30, 2013

Mention the word Umno Baru and people will think of the 3Cs – corruption, cheating and cronyism.

Thousands of miles away, Najib Abdul Razak told the UN General Assembly that “the greatest threat to Muslims today, is not from the outside world, but from within”. His words are poignant and have some gravitas, for they reflect the conditions at home.

Thanks to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the public has become extremely mistrustful of politicians. Thanks also to Mahathir, the biggest challenge which Najib will face at the next Umno-Baru elections, is ironically, within his party.

Many factors will affect the battles during the upcoming Umno-Baru election, including wit and financial considerations. The two men, president Najib, and deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin, ‘won’ their seats unopposed. Continue reading “Backstabber’s guide to Umno polls”

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Security in schools sees RM2bil go down the tube

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report
Malaysiakini
Oct 1, 2013

AUDIT REPORT The 2012 Auditor-General’s Report has revealed severe mishandling of RM2.051 billion with regard to hiring security contractors for schools between 2010 and 2012.

From poorly prepared contracts to hiring of septuagenarians as security guards, the auditor-general said the management of security services in 35 schools and hostels surveyed was generally unsatisfactory.

The audit, which involved schools in Selangor, Perlis and Sabah, found that the contracts were not uniform and did not state specific requirements set by the Education Ministry. Continue reading “Security in schools sees RM2bil go down the tube”

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Mind Your ‘Transformation’, Please!

By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
30th Sept. 2013

“Transformational” is getting to be a hollow word. And the Cabinet ministers who brandish it at will don’t seem to understand its meaning. Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi just showed he doesn’t when he said the bringing back of detention without trial in the newly proposed Prevention of Crime (Amendment and Extension) Bill was “transformational”. Was he using it simply to be in fashionable sync with the Government Transformation Programme?

Is something retrogressive transformational? Is a return to the provisions of the repealed draconian Emergency Ordinance (EO) and Internal Security Act (ISA) transformational? If it is so, then Malaysians are in for a big surprise. And a nasty one too.

Both acts were considered reprehensible to the public, and therefore the Government was forced to remove them. But that was before the 13th general election was called. Now that it’s over, the Government apparently sees no more need in appeasing the public. Pre-election pledges have gone out the window.

A government that is transformational would not hark back to the dark days of Mahathir Mohamad’s reign, when fear was the instrument used to keep people in line. It should instead be demolishing Mahathirism and restoring the damage done to our institutions. No wonder Mahathir is applauding the Bill and blaming the public for “not (being) that developed or educated to appreciate that the law is for their own good”. But then, that’s Mahathir. Always blaming other people. And always asserting that might is right.

The new Bill proposes detaining a suspect for an initial two years, after which period if a review finds that the suspect should be detained further, he will be held for a further two years. This could go on indefinitely in a series of two-year periods. In this sense, it is no different from the EO and the ISA. Continue reading “Mind Your ‘Transformation’, Please!”