Pakatan: Open tenders for all ETP projects, no exceptions

Malaysia Chronicle

Pakatan Rakyat leaders ticked off Prime Minister Najib Razak for trying squeeze through certain projects in the RM1.4 trillion Economic Transformation Program without open tenders, saying that such a move would only defeat the purpose of weeding out corruption.

“What’s to say those few projects that are done through direct negotiations and private agreement are not the ones that carry the greatest padding,” PAS treasurer-general Dr Hatta Ramli toldMalaysia Chronicle.

His views were echoed by DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua, who pointed at the massive RM43 billion MRT system for Kuala Lumpur.

“In the case of the MRT, the Gamuda-MMC consortium will be awarded the project not because they possess the best technologies, or because they have the cheapest price, or because they can deliver the highest quality services, but because they were the first to present their proposal to the PM and were able to lead Pemandu by the nose on the entire project from conception to the full project details as outlined in the ETP book,” Malaysian Insider reported Tony as saying.

No excuses, other countries can do it

Najib had sparked a furore with comments on Monday that open tender was not suitable for all the 131 entry point projects (EPP) identified under the ETP. “There are some contracts that you just cannot tender out,” said the PM.

Tony Pu

Minister in the PM’s Department Idris Jala too rushed to his boss’s defense, insisting that huge public projects like the MRT could not be tendered openly as they were too exorbitant to be funded by private firms, citing similar experiences in other countries.

According to Idris, sometimes restricted bidding and direct negotiations were the better alternatives and could lower project costs “if you know what you’re doing”.

But Pakatan leaders scoffed at both his and Najib's reasoning.

“The Prime Minister completely misses the point of the Government open tenders. Directly awarding a mega-project to a private consortium which subsequently tenders out the respective works maximizes the profits for the consortium, not the government,” said Tony.