KUALA LUMPUR – Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will be following up on the cabinet’s decision to extend Putrajaya’s relationship with Bestinet Sdn Bhd, a controversial company involved in the recruitment of foreign workers.
PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (Masjid Tanah-PN) said the committee was informed on June 24 by Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail of Bestinet’s three-year contract extension.
“The PAC will be securing information (on the contract extension) during follow-up proceedings, which will be held within three months from today,” the Bersatu lawmaker told a press conference in Parliament today.
Saifuddin had on June 24 reportedly confirmed Bestinet’s contract extension following reports by several media outlets on the matter, with the minister stating then that the cabinet had finalised the decision “a few weeks ago”.
Bestinet, which previously came under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) scrutiny for alleged monopolies, handles the government’s Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS).
PAC today presented its report on the FWCMS and the Integrated Foreign Workers Management (ePPAx) system under the human resources minister and the Home Ministry, following the Auditor-General’s Report 2022 highlighting issues with the systems.
While Bestinet’s previous six-year contract with the Home Ministry to develop, supply, provide and maintain the FWCMS ended on May 31, Mas Ermieyati said PAC found that the company had applied for an additional six-year contract with its collection charge going from RM100 to RM120.
She also confirmed that Bestinet’s founder, Bangladesh national turned Malaysian citizen Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Abdul Nor, was not summoned for the committee’s investigations as he is understood to no longer be with the company.
Based on its proceedings conducted between last December and March this year, the committee found that as of March 13, the FWCMS contract has yet to be finalised and signed between the government and the vendor, although a Letter of Acceptance was issued on January 12, 2018.
“This means that the government and Home Ministry have been using the FWCMS for six years without a finalised contract, and this clearly breaches government regulations.
“The Home Ministry and Bestinet must immediately finalise their decision on the agreement and the direction of the FWCMS,” Mas Ermieyati said.
She noted that the PAC also found the FCWMS and ePPAx systems, which were both approved by the then-Barisan Nasional administration in August 2015, to have overlaps in function, thus resulting in public funds wastage.
Officials from the Home Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry also told PAC during its proceedings that the intake of migrant workers could be done without the FWCMS, either manually or through the ePPAx system, Mas Ermieyati added.
“Both ministries need to work together to come up with a strategic plan for the management of migrant workers, not limited to the development of a system.
“Both ministries need to ensure that there are no more overlaps in the functions of the developed systems, which has led to public funds being wasted.”
She also urged the police to provide an update on investigations regarding approval granted by “unauthorised users” for 24 migrant worker quota applications, which was discovered by the National Audit Department and shows weaknesses in the management of identifications in FWCMS.
Also present at the press conference was PAC deputy chairman Wong Shu Qi (Kluang-PH), who labelled FWCMS as a “vendor-driven” project based on statements provided by Bestinet chief executive officer Ismail Mohd Noor during the committee’s proceedings.
“Information available on Bestinet’s website states that the company was formed in 2013. However, the idea to form the FWCMS was first brought to the then-home minister in 2005,” the DAP MP said.
“(Ismail) said the company was only formed after the (FWCMS) idea was accepted, which makes it clear that this project was vendor-driven.
“It is hoped that this can be avoided in the future so that procurement and public-private partnership issues involving public funds contributing to problems the government is now facing can be prevented,” she added. – July 3, 2024