KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) had paid over RM19,000 for eight loudspeakers that were eventually not supplied, the Auditor-General’s (A-G) report released today said.
According to the report, the National Audit Department found last December 9 that eight out of the 18 units of loudspeaker equipment that were listed were not delivered to the university’s Kedah-based Langkawi Research Centre.
“An audit inspection on the payment voucher and claims by Bekal Hikmet Sdn Bhd found that UKM had paid all the costs for the loudspeaker supplies totalling RM44,292 without any payment cuts.
“This caused UKM to have overpaid by RM19,684 for equipment that was not supplied,” the report for the second series of the federal audit for the year 2015 said.
The report said it was of the opinion that the payment for the unsupplied equipment amounted to “improper payment”.
In replies received by the department on June 17 and August 5 this year, UKM responded by saying that a letter was issued to its legal adviser on June 7 for action on the staff member who had acknowledged the work and paid for the unsupplied equipment.
UKM also said that it has taken action to recover the value of the unsupplied asset.
In an updated response on October 20, UKM said its legal adviser has commenced investigation and held a meeting on August 4.
“The adviser has issued a letter to the Department of Development and Maintenance to obtain information regarding the replacement officer for the previous Project Supervising Officer that has retired and the officer who verified receipt of the goods and acknowledged payment,” it said.
UKM also said its legal adviser is in the process of suing the loudspeaker equipment supplier after all efforts to recover the money failed.
Another weakness singled out by the A-G’s report on UKM’s management of supplies was the variation in price ranging from a difference of 10 per cent up to 52.8 per cent of 12 printers toners of the same type from different suppliers.
The report said the audit of UKM’s purchase of toners in the 2013-2015 period showed it was unsatisfactory, as there were clear differences for the same toner types and a market survey of prices was not carried out.
The report noted that UKM’s accounts and finance rules requiring the head of responsibility centres to plan and control a department’s spending.
The university had in responses this April and August mooted two possible solutions with the Treasury Department to manage tendering for toner purchases and for toner purchases to be cut down through the use of existing photocopying machines for printing work.
In UKM’s latest response on October 20, the university’s Treasury Department was said to be finalising its database of printers in use to prepare the tender specifications by October 31, while some responsibility centres have already taken to using photocopying machines as printers as advised by the Treasury Department.
