PETALING JAYA: Leakage fears
Disbursement of emergency funds during pandemic not subjected to audit and open to abuse: Graft experts
PETALING JAYA: Questions have been raised on the disbursement of aid during the movement control order (MCO), with calls for better accountability.
The public expenditures under the government’s stimulus packages to help the people and businesses are open to abuse as they are not accounted for in Parliament, anti-corruption and compliance specialists said yesterday.
“Funds that are supposed to be channelled to the deserving and needy could be siphoned off,” said Datuk P. Ganason, who was a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy commissioner and former chief executive officer of the Corporate Anti-Corruption Compliance Centre (MACA).
“Leakage and wastage in project implementation and execution by politicians and bureaucrats can happen when there is no transparency and accountability in unprecedented and astronomical emergency funding,” he told theSun.
Agreeing with Ganason, Malaysian Association of Certified Fraud Examiners president Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar said the stimulus package aid should reach those in need in a quick, transparent and easy manner.
He said to ensure accountability and transparency in disbursing of such aid, the government should cut off the middlemen or agents and make direct distributions.
“The contract to supply goods for the aid should be awarded to the most qualified companies that give value for money. Aid should reach the target recipients in the fastest and easiest way,” the former Transparency International-Malaysia president said.
“The integrity departments or units of every ministry should also monitor and vet the standard operating procedures (SOP) and the mechanism on how funds are channelled. Internal auditors should assist in improving governance.
“They should practice hand-holding rather than fault finding to achieve this. This is the rudimentary role of internal auditors. Public servants should also be allowed to execute their duties without interference from politicians.”
On public funding for basic needs, especially food, shelter and other basic necessities, Ganason said there is a risk of abuse by middlemen and agents who could be in cohorts with public officials if left unchecked.
“Services and goods supplied could be of inferior quality or sub-standard but the actual claims will be jacked up to provide ‘grease’ money within the supply chain as there will hardly be any checks and balances during an emergency spending spree,” Ganason said.
Akhbar said recipients should also have access to technology where they can track and view the status or progress of delivery of aid.
“Delivery should be prompt and on time without changes. Proper documentation of the acquisition of the goods should also be maintained to ensure no false claims are made by both the recipient and vendor,“ he said.
The government announced its RM250 billion Prihatin Rakyat economic stimulus package last month, with a breakdown of the allocation of the funds.
Of this, almost RM128 billion will be channelled to preserve the people’s welfare, RM100 billion to support businesses, including SMEs, and RM2 billion to strengthen the economy.
Another RM20 billion was announced in an earlier stimulus package.
TEDDY “BEAR” LOOK SiN
