THE government discontinued the National Workforce Vaccination Programme (Protek), aimed at expediting the inoculation of private sector employees, after walk-in vaccination was allowed from Aug 1 onwards, says Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

       He said his ministry had first implemented the initiative as companies wanted to accelerate the vaccination of their workers.

       “However, after the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry decided to allow employees to get their vaccination via walk-in effective Aug 1, 2021, many employers took up the call made by the government and sent their workers directly to the vaccine dispensing centres.

       “As such, the ministry decided to discontinue Protek,” he told M. Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) during Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

       Kulasegaran had asked the ministry why it had embarked on the Protek initiative and imposed a levy on employers although the government had allocated RM5bil for vaccinations that could cover 110% of the country’s population.

       Protek was spearheaded by the Human Resource Ministry and implemented by the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp).

       It was designed to support HRD Corp’s registered employers as well as all other employers in Malaysia in expediting the vaccination of their employees.

       “Through this initiative, employers – especially in the services and manufacturing sectors, which are the backbone of the country’s economy – could operate again by adhering to the standard operating procedure that can help increase productivity and competitiveness, as well as to expedite the process of reviving the national economy and welfare of the people,” said Saravanan.

       To the supplementary question whether a governance oversight committee was formed to determine whether there was mismanagement in the Human Resources Development Fund, Saravanan said all government agencies had to “think outside of the box” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

       “During the period of 18 months, there were no skills training or face-to-face activities.

       “So, with the existing levy, when employers agreed, we took another approach to save the country during the crisis. This is not normal circumstances.

       “So, there was no ‘udang disebalik batu’ (a Malay idiom meaning a hidden agenda or motive). We are transparent,” said Saravanan.