The audit on the Socio-Economic Development Unit for the Indian Community (Sedic) by the National Audit Department will clear all suspicions and misconceptions regarding the funds disbursed by the unit to date, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy.

He said over the years, Sedic had been tasked to give out grants and assistance to Indian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to run programmes for the Malaysian Indian community.

“Questions had been raised as to the effectiveness of programmes carried out by these organisations using government money,” he said in a statement today following a briefing by National Audit Department officials on the audit conducted on Sedic yesterday.

Waytha Moorthy said the Sedic audit also involves three other agencies parked under the unit, namely the Special Implementation Task Force (SITF), Secretariat of Empowerment of Indian Entrepreneurs (SEED), and Action Plan for the Future of Tamil Schools in Malaysia (PTST).

“Based on announcements by the previous administration, it appears that over RM2 billion had been disbursed through operating and development expenditures to implement programmes and projects for the Indian community,” he said.

As such, he added the audit would be complex and take considerable time, in the range of six to eight months, to be completed.

“The audit covers all aspects of the running of the unit, including planning, implementation, input, output, and impact of programmes carried out by the unit,” he said.

Regardless of the audit, the minister said Sedic was going through a restructuring process and would announce its new structure including the incoming director-general and other appointees, soon.

– Bernama