KUALA LUMPUR: Human Resources Minister Steven Sim today denied allegations that certain individuals were blocked from meeting him.
Sim said he has never instructed his officers to prevent anyone from meeting him and that his doors are always open to everyone.
He was responding to a claims that the former Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) chief operating officer (COO) was blocked from meeting him.
"I do not know if there is anyone that is blocking other people from meeting me. My door is always open and if you have not been able to get an appointment, I ask for your patience as we have had an overwhelming amount of work for the past six months.
"This includes the tabling of bills and other issues which must be resolved by the ministry.
"Hence, I apologise if you have not been able to get an appointment but my door is always open to meet anyone and no instructions have been given to prevent anyone from meeting with the minister or the senior management of the ministry," he told reporters in Parliament building here today.
It is learnt that former HRD Corp COO Datuk Ariff Farhan Doss was allegedly blocked from seeing Sim. However, no specific details were provided on the claims.
It was previously reported that Ariff alleged that he was sacked over accusations that he reported irregularities of the corporation to the National Audit Department and Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He also lodged representations with the industrial relations department on the matter. He said he was issued a show cause letter on April 4, purportedly in retaliation for alleged whistleblowing and was accused of making baseless claims that tarnished HRD Corp's reputation.
Meanwhile, in response to a question on why there is still no suspension of HRD Corp chief executive officer, Sim said there were procedures that must be followed in the appointment, suspension and dismissal of an employee regardless of whether they are working with the government, government-linked corporations or the private sector.
He, however, reiterated that no one will be spared if found guilty following the investigation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into HRD Corp.
"It was already informed to the public that the MACC report had been carried out within 24 hours when the Auditor-General (AG) and PAC reports were released.
"This is a move that has never been taken (by any parties), especially when it comes to AG and PAC reports and the ministry has taken a drastic step to comply with the recommendations given by taking follow-up actions with the enforcement agency, which is MACC."