Cabinet was not informed on Imams monitoring system: Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR: The cabinet was not informed about the details of the Integrated Manasik Monitoring System (Imams), that has since been shut down just a day into its operation.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government was only told about the need for an umrah visa management system, that would require all tourism agencies that handle umrah in Malaysia to be registered under one roof.
He said this was to monitor the umrah packages and the agencies providing them to ensure that pilgrims were not victimised by frauds.
However, it was later learnt that the system was outsourced to a private company – Imams Sdn Bhd – and that each pilgrim would be charged RM90.10.
"The cabinet was not informed on the Imams system, but only on a system to oversee and monitor agencies that provide umrah packages.
"There was no mention about the appointment of any companies to handle the monitoring system, let alone outsourcing it to a private company," he told a press conference after officiating the 42nd Malaysian Drug Prevention Association (Pemadam) general assembly, here, today.
Imams, which was implemented on Dec 15, was discontinued a day later after an uproar from the public and industry players over its fees, as well as having a non-Muslim executive officer in the company's ranks.
The RM90.10 fee comprised of RM45 for using Imams, with another RM40 for a comprehensive umrah takaful insurance scheme, as well as the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
"We don't want private companies charging certain fees to be operating the system, which would burden the pilgrims," Ahmad Zahid said.
"As the chairman of the tourism committee, I will also call for a special meeting to look for a mechanism that would make sure a government agency, and not a private company, is managing the system," he added.
Ahmad Zahid also said discontinuing the system was not a political gimmick ahead of the general election, and that it was in response to protests from the public.