I-Kad still not recognised by enforcement authorities
KUALA LUMPUR: The use of the i-Kad as the official identification document for foreign workers has fallen short of its objectives as it is not recognised by enforcement authorities, said the Auditor General’s 2016 Report Series 2.
It said according to a survey conducted by federal auditors, 84 out 134 employers said their employees were still being detained by police despite possessing a valid i-Kad.
“Police have trouble verifying the authenticity of the i-Kad and have to refer to the Immigration Department and Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Bhd (PNMB),” said the report, which was released yesterday.
It said documented foreign workers could still be detained by the authorities as the i-Kad was only implemented at the administrative level and had not been recognised as an official identification document.
It said enforcement of the i-Kad was unsatisfactory as the Immigration (Amendment) Regulations 2017 was still in the drafting stage and yet to be gazetted.
It said 824,119 i-Kad, or 15.1 per cent of all cards, were not issued to foreign workers between 2014 and March this year, and that more than 1.5 million cards had no status.
Auditors found that 5.4 million cards were printed between 2014 and March this year, and that the audit of the i-Kad system was carried out between December last year and March this year.
“From 2014 to last year, 931,729 i-Kad were issued to employers too late,” the report said, adding that a penalty of RM4.32 million for the late delivery of the cards was not imposed on PNMB.
“Instead of surrendering all expired and malfunctioning i-Kad to Immigration, PNMB kept the cards despite failing to deliver them (to employers).”
It said the i-Kad contract between PNMB and the Home Ministry was signed seven months and nine days too late, and that PNMB did not fulfil its contractual obligations after failing to maintain its printing machines and i-Kad servers on schedule.
It said these issues were not addressed during meetings on the implementation and monitoring of the i-Kad system.
To counter these weaknesses, it said Immigration should ensure all printed i-Kad were delivered to employers by improving the management of the system.
It said the process of gazetting the Immigration (Amendment) Regulations 2017 should be speeded up, adding that the department should improve coordination with enforcement authorities.
“(This can be done) by issuing a letter on the use of the i-Kad, as well as conducting a joint meeting (with police) to recognise the i-Kad as the official identification document for foreign workers.
“We recommend that the department increase its monitoring of the i-Kad delivery time to ensure there is no delay. The department should impose penalties on contractors for delays.”
The i-Kad comes in seven colours — expatriates (gold), agriculture (green), farming (orange), construction (grey), services (yellow), manufacturing (red) and maids (brown).