'Weaknesses in MyIMMs to be fixed'

KUALA LUMPUR: THE Immigration Department has pledged to take corrective action following reports of manipulation and fraud within the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs).

Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he was concerned over the revelations made in the Auditor General’s 2018 Report Series 1 on Monday.

He said action would be taken to prevent any recurrence of the same problems.

“I have discussed this with the Immigration director-general and will study the matter in detail.

“We have initiated measures to improve the system.

“The criticism by the National Audit Department was aimed at the old system, but we have taken steps to fix leakages and abuse of power.”

Muhyiddin said this after receiving an official visit from Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam in Parliament here yesterday.

The Auditor General’s Report had established that fraudulent approvals were found within MyIMMs for foreign workers quota via manipulation.

An audit analysis showed that a quota of 32,424 foreign workers had been created and approved for 123 employers. The report showed that first-time levy payments totalling RM40.79 million were done in an unorganised and dubious manner.

The Immigration Department has pledged to extend its cooperation to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the latter’s request to call up the department for questioning with regard to irregularities found in its system.

“If they call us up for an explanation, we will be present,” said Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud.

On when the meeting between PAC and the department would be held, Khairul said he was unsure