The Finance Ministry (MoF) is investigating claims of disrupted payments for staff of national news agency Bernama.
Its minister Lim Guan Eng was responding to claims from Bernama’s senior management that the agency had not received its government grant, forcing the company to dip into the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to pay the July salaries for workers and may not be able to pay this month’s salary either.
“I have ordered the Finance Ministry to start investigations to find out who should be responsible for this serious position and who halted payments for the EPF contributions so that action can be taken.
“The Federal Government is not a bankrupt government as certain states that cannot afford to pay members of their administration,” he said in a statement.
He also rejected Bernama CEO Nurini Kassim’s claim that the government could not afford to pay salaries due to financial constraints as baseless.
“The ministry always prioritises the payment of salaries, including for EPF contributions. Emoluments and salaries will always be given sufficient allocation so that emoluments can be paid first, compared to other payments,” Lim said.
“This raises doubt on whether the money that should have been allocated for the emoluments, salaries and EPF contribution have been ‘diverted’ by Bernama for other payments,” he added.
He said the allegations have tarnished his ministry’s reputation, asserting that the MoF was frequently blamed when it or an agency under its purview overspent its budget.
The minister noted recent news reports citing Bernama’s senior accounts and finance manager Syarifah Zaini Syed Zain claiming a delay in the news agency’s government grant for the third quarter of this year, ostensibly because the ministry has yet to approve the funds, resulting in hardship for staff who were defaulted for not paying their car loans on time.
Some of them reportedly have their monthly salaries deducted for their car loans, the last deduction being in June.
According to media reports, Bernama claimed there is no guarantee that it will be able to pay out staff salaries expected August 22-23.
Lim debunked the news reports, saying his ministry only received a letter of request from Bernama dated July 19 this year on July 22.
Reportedly, MoF is furious that it has been dragged into what it describes as a possible “mismanagement of funds” meant for staff salaries by Bernama.
It was reported that according to highly placed sources within the ministry, Bernama CEO Nurini Kassim was summoned to Putrajaya yesterday to explain the agency’s so-called “cash-strapped situation”.
The source said Nurini was grilled on why the agency failed to manage its coffers when enough money had been provided through a MOF grant.
“The MOF is serious about the matter. We want to get to the bottom of this because an initial probe found that it may be a case of misappropriation of funds,” the ministry official, who requested anonymity, told Malaysiakini.
The official said the MoF described the situation as alleged misuse of government funds, although it may not have been done for personal gain.
“Diverting funds from statutory payments like the Employee Provident Fund (EPF), deducting the salary from staff but not channelling the money to the relevant parties is not only a huge mistake but amounts to a breach of trust by the management,” the source added.
The source also expressed disappointment that MoF was somewhat blamed for the fiasco when it has provided enough money, even to cover for anomalies, for the duration of the grant.
“The management made it sound as if it is the ministry’s fault but in truth, it is an obvious case of mismanagement of funds.
“We will probe where the funds went to. That money was meant for the welfare of the staff, and not to be misused for any other reason.
“Our probe will be thorough and those involved in diverting the funds will be dealt with seriously,” the source added.
In an immediate response yesterday, Bernama said all outstanding cash flow problems have been resolved and that it is working to improve its internal cash flow and financial management process.