ELEVEN programmes meant to improve the income of the bottom 40% (B40) group of households did not achieve their objective due to the absence of verified data of deserving recipients, the National Audit Department said.

These programmes were under the Prime Minister’s Department’s socio-economic programme for the B40, the department said in its third series of the National Audit Report for 2018.

There were a total of 22 programmes, half of which were implemented in line with objectives, but the failure of the other half only resulted in a participation range of 38.5%.

“From the audit’s view, the participation target set by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) was not achieved and could not be validated given the absence of supporting data and documents.

“The implementation of 11 programmes which did not improve the income of the B40 group is the reason why the main objective of the programme was unachievable,” the audit report said.

“The outcome of the success of the programmes could not be evaluated because the Equity Development Division could not provide the relevant data to gauge the percentage of marketability of the participants in the employment space as well as their income,” it added.

The programme that was initially managed by the Equity Development Division (or Bahagian Pembangunan Ekuiti) in the Prime Minister’s Department was meant to raise the incomes of B40 participants through skills training, entrepreneurship and education.

Management was later transferred to the EPU, which is also within the Prime Minister’s Department.

The Economics Affairs Ministry, which responded to the audit department’s findings said that the programmes’ success were evaluated in the form of data on trainees and whether they had started working, were still unemployed or were furthering their studies. 

“A few agencies did not furnish the data despite repeated warnings,” it added. 

It also said the data on employment and salaries of participants were not easy to obtain, as those were personal information. 

It added that such data is normally obtained through the engagement of the trainer and participants and is reported in the programme report. 

Among other weaknesses the audit department found included one case where the authenticity of a programme’s participants could not be verified due to the absence of complete supporting documents.

There were also cases of inexperienced trainers and those who did not have industrial connections to facilitate job placement for trainees.

The government had allocated a total of RM258.29 million for the programme from 2016 to 2018, but less than half the amount was spent.

As of December 31, 2018, six agencies had received an allocation of RM108.8 million, which is 54.4% of the total allocation.

The low spending as reflected in records was due to delays in verification of application approvals by the Skills Development Fund Corporation.

Responding to this, the Skills Development Fund Corporation said the EPU had channelled RM58.5 million on October 17, 2017 to it, when it was being investigated by the MACC in relation to the Funding Programme for the B40 Group.

It added that it was unable to process the application in time because the service provider had not furnished a complete proposal.

Other shortcomings identified included poor financial management by the implementing agencies which included unsanctioned spending amounting to RM377,000, as well as refunds amounting to RM3.5 million even before a contract was inked.

The report also found unscrupulous payments amounting to RM2.16 million, appointments of third party service providers without approval, and the selection of participants which was not in line with the programme’s guidelines. – July 14, 2020.