Risk consultant Amir Fareed Rahim urges the government to disclose the implementation status of all 25 Tabung Haji RCI recommendations.
KUALA LUMPUR: The government should disclose the implementation status of each recommendation made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Tabung Haji (TH) to ensure greater accountability, a political risk consultant said.
KRA Group strategy director Amir Fareed Rahim said this should include identifying the agencies responsible and providing a realistic timeline for completing the remaining 25 per cent of the recommendations.
He said this was important as the outstanding recommendations are more complex than the 75 per cent already implemented, involving structural and legal changes that cannot be achieved solely through internal management directives.
“Key to this, of course, I think, lies in amending the Tabung Haji Act to strengthen governance, accountability and oversight, which would require amending a law in Parliament,” he said when appearing as an online guest on Bernama TV’s ‘World’ programme to discuss the topic ‘Malaysia’s Haj Fund: The Government Push for Transparency and Reform’ today.
Amir Fareed described the decision to hold a special parliamentary sitting tomorrow as a positive step, adding that the debate would be productive if it focused on examining the implementation of all 25 recommendations and identifying those requiring legal changes.
“Secondly, Members of Parliament should examine how accountability will be pursued. They need to agree on forensic audits, and enforcement investigations must establish whether the failures arose from poor judgment, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty or elements of corruption or other legal violations.
“Thirdly, Parliament should establish continuous oversight. The special sitting tomorrow shall not be the end of this process,” he said.
He said the government needs to provide periodic updates on outstanding reforms, while enforcement agencies should report within the limits permitted by ongoing investigations.
On the decision to release the RCI report, he said it demonstrated the government’s confidence that the timing was right, particularly as TH is now resilient enough to withstand disclosures and the government is prepared to defend its reform record.
“It also indicates that the current administration is prepared to distinguish between protecting an institution and protecting individuals.
“Tabung Haji must be protected. It is an important institution for the Muslims, and those who have breached the laws should not be shielded,” he said.
On July 29, the RCI released its 211-page report following an investigation into TH’s management and operations between 2014 and 2020.
