RM85m project derailed by incompetence

DAP says KTM made a disastrous decision in giving Hopetech the job of installing the Automated Fare Collection system.

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP today called for an investigation into the failure of a RM85 million project to set up the Automated Fare Collection (AFC) system for KTM Berhad.

Describing the award of the contract to Hopetech Sdn Bhd as a “disaster” of a decision, DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said the case was an instance of the government’s failure to enforce transparency and integrity and the MACC’s ineffectiveness as anti-corruption agency.

He said Hopetech had won the contract despite quoting a price that was 18% more expensive than the offers of two other bidders and despite its bad track record.

He noted that KTM confirmed in 2011 that the MACC was probing it for alleged fraud in awarding the contract to Hopetech.

“However, instead of suspending the project pending investigations, the Transport Minister, who is also the MCA secretary-general, Kong Cho Ha, had immediately decreed that the project must proceed with the awarded contract without delay,” said Pua at a press conference in the parliament lobby.

Hopetech last year extended the deadline for completing its job from April 2012 to January 2013, but Pua said the system was nowhere near completion.

“I have received reliable information that the situation is so bad that hardware that was procured for the project have since been damaged, stolen or lost as a result of neglect and prolonged extension,” he added.

He urged Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to ensure that the culprits in the fiasco were brought to book immediately, reminding him that the ministry had been repeatedly warned about Hopetech’s incompetence.

“The CEO and executive director, Mohamed Zafril Mohamad Zabdin and the managing director, Hairul Ridza Hayata Elias, are both directors of other companies which are either facing winding up petitions or have been wound up on orders of the court,” Pua said.

“Despite the above warning, Kong and his team at the Transport Ministry persisted with the award. The outcome is a disaster and taxpayers’ money burnt.”