Key people to testify before PAC, says Kiandee
KUALA LUMPUR: Key personalities from the Youth and Sports Ministry and Transport Ministry will be called up to testify before the Public Account Committee (PAC).
This follows the punitive reprimands issued against the two ministries in the Auditor-General’s Report 2017 Series 2.
PAC chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said the AuditorGeneral’s Report highlighted in details several issues concerning the two ministries.
“PAC will give priority to investigate them further,” he said in a press conference yesterday.
When asked for more details on the issues highlighted, Dr Kiandee said there were numerous ones, such as the procurement and construction of projects.
Auditor-General Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad said a punitive reprimand did not necessarily mean proof of any wrongdoing by a ministry or an agency.
She said there must be follow-up investigations by the relevant agencies to determine the nature of punishment to be imposed for breaches of procedure or regulations by the officers concerned.
“For example, the Public Service Department can take action against an officer who was found to have been negligent,” she said.
On a separate issue, Dr Kiandee said PAC would submit its recommendations to Parliament on the alleged tampering of the AuditorGeneral’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) final audit report in the next Parliament session.
“There is no time frame for the investigations as we have three main issues under probe.
“However, I am confident that the committee will come to some findings and make the necessary recommendations,” he said.
Dr Kiandee said PAC had set three days to probe the tampering of the audit report.
He said former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang would give his testimony today.
Dr Madinah would testify tomorrow while the National Audit Department’s former audit performance director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad would testify on Thursday.
Besides the 1MDB final audit report, other issues under PAC’s spotlight were the missing RM19.4bil in Goods and Services Tax credit refunds and the construction of public marinas.