IPOH, Oct 5 — An international auditing firm will review state government-linked entities Menteri Besar Inc (MB Inc) and Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS), the Perak state assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said today.
Perak PAC chairman Leong Cheok Keng said the committee had approached international accounting firms to conduct a forensic audit into the two entities, which had attracted negative headlines of late.
“We want to be fair to these organisations, For all you know, it could be nothing but bad luck or bad commercial decisions,” he told a press conference after chairing the new PAC's first meeting today.
“A forensic audit seeks to find negligence, gross negligence or fraud. If there are no such elements, there is no need to conduct a public hearing. But if there are, we will call the witnesses forward.”
Perak Economic Advisory Council member Nga Kor Ming had called for the MAPS theme park to be audited, after it reportedly incurred losses amounting to RM474.4 million.
The performance of MB Inc has also been repeatedly questioned by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition over the past few years.
Leong said the PAC would be getting quotations from three international accounting firms and would decide on the best option in their next meeting.
He said the chosen firm would also outline the time-frame needed to carry out the audit in their quotation.
“One of the accounting firms has offered to carry out the audit at cost, as a form of national service,” said Leong.
"But we will have to see what 'at cost' means. The quotation should be within our budget and we will ask them to do it as quickly as possible."
Leong said the PAC would also be calling representatives of 13 local councils in Perak to present a report on the high number of illegal billboards around the state.
He said two councils had already been investigated, adding that the PAC would ask the remaining councils to attend the next committee meeting on November 15.
“There are many billboards which are illegal, or have been erected by parties who did not apply for the necessary licensing,” Leong said.
“Separately, we will also give notice to the Perak Water Board (LAP) to give us a report on the non-revenue water problem.
“We want to find out why this problem has not been solved, and how the LAP plans to overcome the issue,” he said.
