THE Social Security Organisation (Socso) should be managing its finances more competently by cutting away poor investments instead of seeking to increase contributions from workers, said the National Union of the Bank Employees (Nube).

Nube secretary-general J. Solomon said Socso should also clean up its financial management so that it can cater to the needs of more workers.

“Nube finds that Socso has not managed its funds prudently. There is a need for a special committee of inquiry into the management of Socso funds to ensure accountability and transparency on how the workers’ monies are spent.

“Poor investments, unnecessary expenses and blindly diving into expensive projects using Socso funds are the major issues in the poor management of Socso and which needs to be investigated by the government.

“The main funds are largely derived from the monthly contributions from local and migrant workers, and employers. These funds are meant to help the insured against the contingencies of invalidity and employment injury of the workers and their families in this crucial time of need,” he said in a statement today. 

He was responding to Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan’s recent announcement that the government was studying the need to raise Socso contributions by RM1 or RM2.

Saying that the increase would not burden the people, Saravanan also added that the contribution rate had never been raised since 1971, the year the agency was established. He said the demand for contributions had increased, with total contributions rising by over 100%.

However, Solomon noted that over the years the number of contributors had also increased, with even the foreign workers contributing now.

He said Socso had the reputation of not being worker-friendly, with horror stories of how some of them had been pushed around or not treated with dignity when they apply for claims.

“On the other hand, we see millions of ringgit being wasted on mindless projects that can either wait or we can do without.

“This is absurd as it appears that the minister and his officers in Socso have no sense of empathy towards the contributors. There does not seem to be any accountability.

“The previous auditor-general’s report had already pointed to the financial mismanagement in Socso, with millions being spent that cannot be explained. And Socso has been spending millions on new projects on its IT systems, which can be vouched for by some experts as being unnecessary.” – March 12, 2021.