KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Grant amounting to RM95,200 under the Senior Citizens Activities Centre (PAWE) programme was diverted as a loan facility for a supervisor of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which operates PAWE, according to the Auditor-General’s Report Series 1.

The report which was tabled in Parliament today revealed that the grant was abused for personal use and association activities resulting in a lack of funds for PAWE activities although an audit in April 2017 showed that the entire loan had been repaid.

The report said PAWE under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) also spent RM70,988 without adhering to set guidelines and no applications were made for the expenditure.

“An audit on 11 PAWE items found seven of them not listed under PAWE guidelines such as purchase and maintenance of assets, travel claims as well as bonus payment,” the report said adding that the report also found there was excess spending of RM46,733 when acquiring PAWE equipment and facilities in which the expenditure were made without any application.

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According to the report, auditors were told the expenditure was because the items were needed urgently.

Meanwhile, a reply received by the National Audit Department on May 11, 2017 stated that KPWKM had sent a warning letter and reminder on grant abuse to the NGO on May 8, 2017.

According to KPWKM, the Welfare Department had implemented several measures to tighten the PAWE draft guidelines over the abuse of RM70,988 grant.

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The National Audit Department also proposed several measures including the need for KPWKM to establish an internal investigation committee to look into the abuse of PAWE grants.

The ministry was also told to improve monitoring of its assistance and senior citizen service programme. — Bernama