Same shit every year

Insiders say that the projects should have cost about RM25 million apiece but the cost was doubled to cover a RM80 million donation to MCA. Others say MCA never received the RM80 million and that the money went to the Minister instead during the tenure of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The Auditor-General’s Department has just released its annual report and, as usual, we are reading about all the shit. It is actually the same shit every year and is almost like this year’s report is a photocopy of last year’s report and of the reports the years before that and so on.

In short, nothing has changed.

There are so many issues in the Auditor-General’s report that we just cannot cover everything. One thing I want to talk about, though, is regarding the incinerator fiasco because some things are not mentioned in the report, which I feel should be mentioned.

I remember years ago back in the 1980s when Terengganu announced the first incinerator project in Malaysia. That was back in the days of Menteri Besar Wan Mokhtar Ahmad and the late Bakar Daud, the head of Bandaran Kuala Terengganu at that time.

That project became a white elephant even before it could be commissioned and there were reports of massive corruption, which was never investigated.

The Edge has an interesting report about this in the article ‘Greener combustion of waste’ (READ HERE). Note the eleventh paragraph of this report where it talks about the failed Kuala Terengganu project of the 1980s.

Now, some of the people involved in that failed Kuala Terengganu project of 30 years ago are also involved in the Langkawi, Pangkor, Tioman and Cameron Highlands incinerator projects. And, according to the Auditor-General, these projects too have failed and have swallowed about RM200 million of the taxpayers’ money.

The company behind these projects, XCN Technology Sdn Bhd, was also implicated in a RM100,000 bribery scandal. Furthermore, according to inside sources, the project is not RM200 million as reported but involved variation orders of an additional RM80 million -- which was not mentioned in the Auditor-General’s report.

Insiders say that the projects should have cost about RM25 million apiece but the cost was doubled to cover a RM80 million donation to MCA. Others say MCA never received the RM80 million and that the money went to the Minister instead during the tenure of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister.

Well, there you have it. I have just completed the Auditor-General’s report and have highlighted what the Auditor-General’s report did not mention.

Over to the MACC -- are we going to see a second corruption case involving XCN Technology Sdn Bhd and Caleb Khoo Nee Sien?

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Govt officer charged over bank deposit

(Bernama, 6 May 2009) - A senior government officer pleaded not guilty in the magistrate's court here today on two counts of receiving a RM100,000 bank deposit one year ago.

Aw Joon Ching, 50, former principal assistant director in the Housing and Local Government Ministry, was alleged to have received the money from XCN Technology Sdn Bhd director Caleb Khoo Nee Sien in connection with the installation of incinerators in Pangkor and Langkawi islands.

Aw, who was attached with the Engineering Structure Unit of the ministry's implementation and maintenance branch, had managed the projects then.

Aw, who had since been transferred to the Public Works Department, was alleged to have received the money through the account of his sister-in-law, Tan Yee Pik, 41, at the Bangsar Baru branch of Malayan Banking Berhad between May 8 and June 30, 2008.

He was charged under Section 165 of the Penal Code and if convicted, he is liable to a jail term up to two years jail or fines or both.

Magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham fixed bail at RM5,000 bail and set June 10 for re-mention.

Joon Ching was represented by counsel Yusof Khan while Deputy Public Prosecutor Iznina Hanim Hashim prosecuted.

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RM199m “burnt” as incinerators for waste management become white elephants

(TMI) - The Auditor-General Department revealed a waste of RM199 million which was spent on the construction of four incinerators by the National Solid Waste Management Department over the last four years, as there was no expertise to operate such machines once they were built.

The incinerators were built in Langkawi, Pangkor, Tioman and Cameron Highlands.

According to the AG Report released today, the construction of these incinerators was also delayed two to three times from their original schedule.

The report revealed that three of the incinerators were not in operation for between 223 and 642 days, due to the lack of expertise.

The plan to build the fifth incinerator in Labuan also did not take off.

“The Pahang government had spent nearly RM1 million last year to clean up the mess the old way,” the report added.

The Federal Government had allocated RM337.5 million for the whole project.

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Flaws in incinerator management

The 2012 Audit Report revealed that only one out of the four waste incinerators is up and running.

(FMT) - Audit findings revealed today that the overall management of waste incinerators by the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry are not satisfactory.

Out of the four projects, only one is in operation. Another two projects have been completed but not in operation yet, while the fourth was still under construction.

Under the Ninth and Tenth Malaysia Plan, a total of RM199.09 million out of the RM337.45 million allocated by the Federal Government was spent on the construction of the incinerators.

The ministry built incinerators using the combustion technology proposed by XCN Technology Sdn Bhd in Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Pangkor, Cameron Highlands and Pulau Tioman.

The audit finding proved that the all the incinerators were not completed during the scheduled period and only one was ready within the extended deadline.

Another two incinerators were completed between 46 days and 104 days after the extended deadline while one is still under construction.

Even the Pangkor incinerator could not operate at the set temperature range and is inefficient.

There were also flaws in the documents on the plant operation and maintenance contract.

The report also revealed that there were design flaws resulting in the incinerator not operating at optimal level.

Bad management was also due to non-compliance of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Factories and Machinery Act.

The National Audit Department advised the ministry to provide an effective management of solid waste.

The audit also recommended raising public awareness on the importance of separation of solid waste.

The ministry was urged to improve the solid waste treatment so that autogenous combustion could be achieved in a more efficient manner.