Why independent committee reports are not made public?
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) would like to congratulate the appointment of the eight new members of the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).
We are especially very pleased with the appointment of Datuk Seri Hishamudin Md Yunus; the outstanding former Court of Appeal Judge into Suhakam. In fact, we think someone with Hishamuddin’s standing should have been made the Chairperson of the Suhakam.
Having said that, PSM and many others are still waiting for the report of The Special Committee on Foreign Worker Management led by no other than Hishamuddin Yunus himself. Why hasn’t this report been made public?
This independent committee was set up by the Cabinet in August 2018 to streamline policies on foreign workers. Many people including PSM participated in the townhall discussion organised by this committee and have given recommendations and feedbacks.
One major issue of contention is who should manage the country’s foreign workers recruitment policy. The choice was between the Immigration Department under the Home Affairs Ministry and the Human Resource Ministry. Most stakeholders who attended these townhall sessions wanted the Human Resource Ministry to manage these policies.
The reasons are obvious.
The recent charging of former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is testimony on why there is a big tussle on who controls the Migrant workers portfolio because it means big money.
Zahid, two days ago, was charged with seven new corruption charges involving millions that he allegedly made from foreign visa system (VLN) while he was serving as Home Minister. Foreign workers are big business, as well as big corruption.
Similarly, what happened to the Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) report which was set up in May 2018 to look into reforms of important government agencies and Institution? The IRC was chaired by another prominent retired Court of Appeal judge Datuk K.C. Vohrah. It had among others, people with high public standing such as Datuk S. Ambiga and Prof Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi.
Why the reports from good people are not made public? Why so much of tax payers’ money is spend in getting feedbacks and coming out with reports, yet these reports are not being made public?
What is the government afraid off? Pakatan Harapan came to power because of the abuse of power on Institutional matters and one of the biggest promises made was to make those changes. Why the rakyat who brought about these changes are not given equal respect when reports of public interest is kept under wraps.
A lot of good people have sacrificed time and energy on Institutional changes over the years. Their sacrifices and these reports need to see its day of light.
S.Arutchelvan
PSM Central Committee Member
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Leaders Online.
