No action against ‘notorious’ military contractors

Defence Ministry keeps errant contractors despite reminders from Auditor-General's Office.

PETALING JAYA: The Defence Ministry refused to take stern action against 10 errant contractors who were awarded contracts worth RM76 million for work delays despite being notified by the Auditor-General’s Office.

Each of these companies recorded various levels of delay in repairing the air force’s Aviation Ground Support Vehicles (AGSV).

The 2010 AG’s Report noted that instead of severely censoring them, the ministry extended their contracts.

In its rebuke, the AG noted that the ministry did nothing more than issue these notorious contractors warning letters.

“And their contracts were extended till Dec 6 last year although their contracts were supposed to expire on June 5,” noted the report.

It noted that the companies most notorious for their delay in delivery of repaired vehicles were Kobat Engineering Sdn Bhd, Sesama Auto Sdn Bhd, Aerospace Technology System Corporation Sdn Bhd and Aviasi Industri Sdn Bhd.

Kobat Engineering had the worst track record, while another company Aviasi took more than a year to repair and return a towing truck to the ministry.

“And the excuse they gave is lack of expertise, no spare parts and sometimes say they couldn’t even find what’s the problem with the vehicle,” noted the AG’s Report.

Expensive tupperwares

On another issue, the Prime Minister’s Department overpaid a tupperware supplier by RM5,584 for purchases made for a poverty eradication programme in Terengganu.

The supplier, Nan Jaya Trading, had made a claim for RM9,805 for tupperware products worth RM4,221. Nan Jaya had secured a 25% discount for the tupperware from the supplier.

According to the report Nan Jaya had claimed the extra charge as ‘transportation cost’.

“Nan Jaya said the extra charge was made to cover transportation costs.

“It doesn’t make sense for anyone to impose a transportation charge of over RM5,000 for products worth less than that,” the report noted.