Pengguna perihatin

Tuesday October 27, 2009
By IZWAN IDRIS and SHARIDAN M. ALI

PETALING JAYA: The Government needs to be more “open” on issues related to its procurement policy, urged two non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

“As it is now, there is more suspicion than trust in the system,” Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) secretary-general Muhammad Shaani Abdullah said in a response to Starprobe’s articles published yesterday.

This, he said, was due to the lack of transparency on how most of the public contracts were awarded, as well as lack of publicly available information about the project status.

“The Government needs to do more in sharing information with the public,” Shaani said, adding that this could be achieved through the media and publishing such information on government websites.

The latest Auditor-General’s report and Starprobe findings published yesterday revealed that the Government could be losing billions of ringgit every year through excessive payments made for projects and procurements from private contractors.

Transparency International Malaysia (TI Malaysia) secretary-general Dr Loi Kheng Min said putting a proper procurement system would help curb corrupt practices, which had been long-associated with government contracts.

He said that the effectiveness of existing systems, like e-Perolehan and e-Tender should be enhanced, while perennial issues like non-compliance to procedures should be dealt with.

TI Malaysia, a globally-linked anti-graft independent body, has also come up with its own procurement guide called Integrity Pact.

Recent adopters of this Integrity Pact include Pos Malaysia Bhd.

Loi said the Integrity Pact programme was designed to prevent corruption, bribes and any other unethical practices.

Meanwhile, a government officer met by the Starprobe team at National Asset and Facility Management Convention 2009 yesterday said it was definitely a waste to lose billions of ringgit every year through excessive payments for contracts and procurements.

“I think the current Government will definitely do something to curb this problem.

“And the real cost of contract for any projects should be audited to avoid any ‘hidden’ charges with vested interests.

“Nobody in the right mind would let this happen and if unnecessary cost or expenditure is revealed, such as the acquisition of the over RM40,000 laptop, somebody should be held responsible,” said the officer, who declined to be named.

A businessman at the convention yesterday also lauded the effort to probe such issues as it involved taxpayers’ money.

“Although some contracts are through open tender, a background check on the company and unnecessary costs of the project is very important to avoid this kind of wastage.

“Maybe a third independent party should be roped in to do the audit,” he said.

Labels: FOMCA, Sha'ani, Shaani