HRD Corp investment panel didn’t report activities to board, says PAC

PETALING JAYA: The Human Resource Development Corporation’s (HRD Corp) investment panel did not report its investment activities appropriately to its board of directors, according to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said despite the panel’s justification that its chairman also chaired the board, this had resulted in the board being unable to monitor its investment activities and undermined its responsibility to the company’s direction.

She said HRD Corp had been “aggressively” using levies collected for high-risk investments.

She also noted that according to the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad Act 2001, a Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) representative must be appointed as a member of the investment panel.

“However, no BNM representative has sat on HRD Corp’s investment panel since 2017.

“HRD Corp’s main purpose and function is to develop human resources with regards to the promotion of training (programmes) and the development of employees, apprentices and trainers, not to be an investment institution,” she said in a statement.

The PAC chief said there were also purchases of land that went through various procurement procedures rather than one consistent SOP. The board of directors meanwhile did not receive complete documents for several real estate transactions.

Mas Ermieyati, who is also the Masjid Tanah MP, said the HRD Corp CEO had obtained the signature of the human resources ministry’s deputy secretary-general (operations) in a letter dated Feb 15, 2023 to depict to the board that he had approved the skills passport project.

She said the human resources minister at the time, V Sivakumar, and the HRD Corp board were also told that the programme would have no financial implications on the company.

“This contradicts the agreement (for the project) which states that HRD Corp will pay Neomindz Sdn Bhd RM12 every time the ‘skill passport’ is used.”

The programme was scrapped in December that year following claims of non-compliance with procedures and the absence of board approval.