This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 19, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: The management of foreign workers’ application was unsatisfactory and was not in compliance with stipulated government policies or rules, while data compiled by the Malaysian Immigration System or MyIMMs were “inaccurate”, with data integrity described as “suspicious”, according to the Auditor-General’s Report 2015 (Series 1).

This was discovered after the audit assessed the management of MyIMMs, the information technology system of the Malaysian Immigration Department that was developed to support its operations in providing the best service to the public, external agencies and stakeholders.

MyIMMs comprises three main components namely applications, network and data centre, which enable users to perform data entry, processing, validation, transmitting and storing information from the immigration offices to the database and vice versa.

These components have been installed at all immigration offices throughout the country as well as at the Immigration Attaché Offices abroad. They are also accessible to external agencies.

MyIMMs’ contract worth RM29.9 million was approved by the ministry of finance (MoF), through a direct negotiation with HeiTech Padu Bhd, which saw the contract signed between the parties on Nov 1, 2010, for a period of one year from March 1 that year to Feb 28, 2011.

The audit revealed that the overall management of the system was “less satisfactory in the aspects of planning, implementation, and monitoring”.

Besides unsatisfactory management of foreign workers’ applications and inaccurate data, the agreement period was also earlier than the date of approval for direct negotiation by the MoF and the letter of acceptance.

There was also a payment of RM22.64 million that was not supported by complete documentation; a full payment made for RM10.3 million worth of uninstalled and unused biometric system and equipment; and three out of seven systems for application and payment of visa and pass in the eServices System that were not used.

The agency link-up was also not fully installed, though full payment had been made, while user acceptance and provisonal acceptance tests were not comprehensively done as stipulated in the agreement.

It added that a business continuity plan was also found to be unsatisfactory, though full payment had been made.