KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) is appealing to relevant authorities to manage donations from the public to Zoo Negara, so as to ensure that the fund is used for its intended purposes.
Its secretary-general J. Solomon claimed that although various reports had been lodged against the national zoo’s mismanagement in the past, no action had been taken.
“The Zoo Negara management is again seeking donations, this time around citing the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO) as the reason behind it.
“It appears to be a norm for the management to periodically appeal to the generosity of Malaysians to save Zoo Negara, without fixing the underlying issues plaguing the management and board of directors, including allegations of financial improprieties,” he said in a statement.
He said that while the union had no objections and welcomed anyone to donate towards the up-keeping of the zoo and its animals, MTUC expressed concern should the funds collected were found to be mismanaged.
Solomon claimed that to date, the Zoo Negara management has yet to account for its failure to build quarters for its employees despite receiving a RM1.6 million allocation from the government for the purpose in 2001.
He also claimed that scores of workers at the National Zoo continued to be undermined by the management which included delaying pay checks for the workers as well as refusing to pay the worker’s entitlements until today.
“If the management is unable to look after the well-being of its own workers how can we be sure that the animals in the zoo are well taken cared of,” he said.
He also called for an investigation to be carried out into the management’s failure to utilise the RM1.6 million allocation it received in 2001 to build quarters as promised.