97% of RM7.6m unaccounted for

KUALA LUMPUR: Almost all of the RM7.6 million allocated to the Malaysian Islamic Strategic Research Institute (Iksim) since 2017 is unaccounted for, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa said yesterday.

Only RM200,000 of the amount had proof and receipts of transactions, and the remaining RM7.4 million (97.4%) of the fund was missing under the supervision of the previous minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.

This is based on an internal audit compiled by the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council since Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the federal government, he said.

“RM7.6 million was disbursed to the institute, and RM7.4 million of it is unaccounted for. Meaning we were not able to locate any documents or proof that the money was spent.

Mujahid was speaking to reporters after his winding-up speech on the royal address at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

He said this was why the government decided to freeze indefinitely the account and all activities under the institution since last month.

The minister also assured that all outstanding salaries for the staff would be resolved in the coming weeks.

“I hope with this explanation, it will help calm down all parties on claims that the current government is acting too hard on Iksim’s staff,” he said.

On a separate issue, Mujahid said a dress code guideline focused on syariahcompliance for the private sector is expected to be introduced by end of the year, after being reviewed by a syariah panel and the Human Resources Ministry.

The guideline, among others, will ask that front-liners in related industry, including hotel staff and stewardesses, to wear uniforms that are more syariahcompliant.

“However, this is not legally-binding. We can’t force anyone to wear something they don’t want.

“The prerogative will ultimately be up to the respective companies. But this is a step in the right direction,” he said.