During the recent State Assembly Sitting, Pahang Chief Minister Wan Rosdy admitted that the five Government-linked Companies (GLCs) the Pahang Corporation Sdn Bhd (Pahang Corp) are not audited by the National Audit Department.
Considering that the Pahang GLCs are monopolistic in their respective fields and related to the state governments’ financial management, the GLCs should not operate in a grey area by avoiding the checks and balances from the state assembly and governmental audit.
During the questions-and-answers session, I’d asked a question about the roles of the five GLCs under Pahang Corp, namely Pahang Management Services Sdn. Bhd, Pahang Water and Energy Resources Sdn.Bhd, Pahang Orang Asli Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Koridor Utiliti Pahang Sdn. Bhd and Pahang Go Sdn. Bhd.
“The Chief Minister answered that the state GLCs are audited internally, and thus it is not necessary to let the companies be audited by the National Audit Department.”
The GLCs are closely related to the state government expenditure and revenue, for they are given the monopoly power in certain fields and involved in tax collection, asset management, and fine collection.
Furthermore, these GLCs recorded RM52 million in revenue in the year 2021 alone.
Given that these state GLCs are involved in collecting fees from the public and can affect the financial status of the state government, the Chief Minister’s rationale about the companies’ audit process was neither correct nor appropriate.
As the GLCs are only audited internally, the public cannot exercise their right to information, whereas the state assembly does not have the power to hold the companies accountable.
Hence, we are unable to trace and monitor the operations of the GLCs, including its financial management, human resources management, and projects involved.
If the details of the GLCs are only disclosed to the government and not the public, the companies are in reality operating in stealth mode. Foreseeably, the companies might eventually become the new hotbeds of corruption.
We have to remember the lesson that the notorious 1MDB corruption scandal happened exactly because the company operated in stealth mode and utilized public power to misuse the public money for its personal interests. In the end, Malaysia was put under the international spotlight because of Najib Razak, the kleptocrat.
All GLCs are involved in managing the public’s money, they must be scrutinized by the public to enhance their professionalism and transparency.
Effective checks and balances against the GLCs will ensure that all forms of corruption, bribery, and overspending can be rooted out and prevented in the future.