ALOR SETAR, Nov 14 — The Auditor-General’s Report Year 2019 Series 1 on the Activities of Agencies and Management of Companies of the Kedah State Government found that the governance of Unishams Sdn Bhd, a fully owned subsidiary of State Secretary Kedah (Incorporated), was less than satisfactory.

Auditor-General Datuk Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid said although the objective of managing a private institution of higher learning was achieved, it was found to not be fully implementing seven out of 10 best corporate governance practices.

"New student intakes for 2016, 2017 and 2019 were less efficient because they failed to achieve the set targets. However, the percentage of students who obtained CGPA scores of 3.00 or higher and the percentage of graduates who have been working for 2016 till 2019 showed rising trends.

"Accommodation facilities were inadequate to sustain the increase in new students. The collection of overdue student fees was also less satisfactory and there are weaknesses in asset management,” he said in a statement today.

The report, along with the Auditor-General’s Report on the Financial Statements of the Kedah State Government and Agencies as well as State Departments Compliance Auditing Year 2019, were tabled at the Kedah state legislative assembly today.

According to Nik Azman, Unishams’s financial standing was also at a less stable level, where its pre-tax profit for 2017 dropped compared to 2016, while in 2018, Unishams recorded a pre-tax loss.

In addition, he said a performance audit was conducted on the management of the Kubang Pasu Municipal Council car park, which was found to be not managed efficiently.

"The performance of compound notice settlement was low, at 21.6 per cent, with only 17,168 compound notices settled involving collections totalling RM185,875 compared to 79,618 compound notices issued for a total of RM3.54 million,” he said.

On the audit of the Kedah State Government financial statement for the year ending December 31, 2019, he said the financial statement showed a true and fair view and that accounting records were kept complete and up to date.

He said overall the state government’s financial standing was stable with consolidated funds at the end of 2019 totalling RM320.48 million, an increase of RM245.91 million compared to RM74.57 million at the end of 2018. — Bernama