KUALA LUMPUR (July 21): There were “serious irregularities” and “weaknesses” found at seven ministries' projects and programmes that cost RM48.78 billion in total, Malaysia’s auditor general flagged on Monday.

The second Auditor General’s Report for 2025 also provided 22 recommendations to the ministries, departments, and companies involved, Auditor General Datuk Seri Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi said in a statement.

Follow-up audits conducted from 2024 to June 2025 have helped the government recover RM157.73 million through penalties, taxes and fines, as well as collections of liquidated ascertained damage and claims on arrears of rental and leases, Wan Suraya said.

Following recent amendments to the Audit Act 1957, the National Audit Department is now empowered to follow up on actions taken in response to issues, recommendations, or comments raised in the Auditor General’s Report.

Among others, the auditor general discovered problems in Felcra Bhd’s lease acquisition of oil palm plantations involving RM241.76 million from 2022 to 2024, as well as in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s procurement process in tenders worth RM58.45 million.

The auditor-general also highlighted weaknesses in contract administration and procurement management of the Malaysian Army’s armoured vehicles for 2020-2023, according to the National Audit Department.

The report also highlighted weaknesses in the implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of the subsidised cooking oil programme by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living — particularly in failing to target the intended recipients and ineffective quota distribution.

The selected pre-qualification procurement method, introduced by the Finance Ministry for projects in 2023 and 2024, was found to be open to manipulation, as unqualified companies were still shortlisted for final evaluation.

Further, “the procurement process also takes a long time and exceeds the stipulated period,” the auditor general added.

For more AG's Report 2025 stories, click here.