Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly RM12 million in pensions were paid to deceased retired military personnel, the national audit report for 2013 said, and of this only RM1.69 million has been recovered.

The payments were made between 2011 and 2013 and totalled RM11.94 million.

The list of recipients comprised 3,786 dead ex-servicemen, said the third installment of the 2013 Auditor-General’s report released in Parliament yesterday.

“Of the amount, 14.2%, or RM1.69 million, had been recovered from the bank,” the report stated.

In taking the Defence Ministry to task, the A-G’s Report stated that the ministry’s Veterans Affairs department has to constantly check the status of its pensioners with the National Registration Department (NRD) to avoid making payments to dead people. In its reply, the department said it depends on notification from the next-of-kin that the pensioner had died.

“If there is no formal notification, the payments will continue to be made,” it said but assured that it will continue to work closely with the NRD to update the records of its retirees who had died.

It said it has hired 13 temporary staff to update the data of about 10,000 pensioners which will be matched with NRD records. The exercise is expected to be completed early next year.

Other cases highlighted in the AG’s Report include:

• The RM663 million 1BestariNet project, which is suffering from a lack of usage, with less than 5% of students using the facility which was installed in schools nationwide

• Medicines worth nearly RM1.5 million and equipment were stolen from public hospitals from late 2011 to 2012 with the help of staff.

• A civil servant who had embezzled nearly RM1 million in unclaimed money from the Accountant-General’s Department was let off despite several police reports

• Six companies that owe the Inland Revenue Board property sales taxes totalling RM590,263 have not been dragged to court despite existing legislation — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 11, 2014.

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