KUALA LUMPUR: Federal Minister of Entrepreneurship Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) Datuk Ewon Benedick said his ministry will conduct an investigation on how non-citizens receive microcredit grants from the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) in Sabah around 2013.
He said his ministry takes this matter seriously and will conduct a proper investigation.
“Fundamentally, government agencies in Malaysia cannot provide financing to non-citizens. But I have been informed that after 2013, AIM no longer received any new applications involving non-citizens, “ he said.
“MEDAC will conduct an investigation, and the results of the investigation will be brought to the Cabinet Meeting,” Ewon said, adding that he did not have information on why the administration at that time provided microcredit financing from AIM to non-citizens.
“But I am here to assure this House and the Honourable Members that this matter will be addressed,” he said.
Ewon was responding to a question in Parliament by Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau (Upko-Tuaran) who wanted to know how non-citizens in Sabah were able to get financing from AIM in 2013.
Tangau called on the government to conduct an investigation into the misuse of power that allowed non-citizens in Malaysia to receive microcredit grants from the AIM in Sabah around 2013.
He said this matter needed to be investigated as it is currently impacting borrowers from the local community in the state.
“I understand that they were given microcredit facilities simply because they were poor, even though they were not citizens.
“And what happened when the national security forces fought against the intrusion in Tanduo in March 2013? They also fled, leaving behind outstanding debts, he said.
According to Tangau, this tarnished the integrity of AIM in Sabah and led to the transfer of microcredit management in Sabah to Putrajaya.
“Although this is not a Sabah issue, it is more of an abuse of power issue,” he said.
