The government benefited from private contractors building the six new Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campuses and not the other way around, Minister in Prime Minister's Department Abdul Wahid Omar said today.
The expansion projects for the bumiputera education facilities would not have taken place as the government had no budget for it, Wahid said.
He was defending the inflated cost of the RM8.6 billion projects that the PKR parliamentarian for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli, said have lined the pockets of Umno party members.
"It's the strategy of the government. If you have to wait for government expenditure, the six campuses will not be built because we have other commitments," Wahid, the head of Economic Planning Unit, told reporters in Putrajaya.
However, he declined to say if the final cost as reported by Rafizi was true.
"I am not familiar with the numbers but I think you must appreciate the concept," said the former senior bank executive who became a government minister after the 13th general election in May last year.
Wahid said that under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) method, the contractors build and also take on the duties of maintaining the buildings and facilities for 20 years before handing these back to the government.
'Gov't came up with PFI idea in 2009'
Abdul Wahid said that the government had planned the UiTM expansions since 2007 but only came up with the PFI idea in 2009, which then accelerated the projects.
“The project started construction in 2011 and with this approach, the campuses were able to be completed by 2014,” he said.
He added that under the PFI, the private contractors also took the risk of financing the campuses in the ‘build, lease and maintain’ contracts.
Abdul Wahid’s explanation echoed UiTM, which also issued a statement this week saying that the PFI was “value for money” despite Rafizi’s allegations that the government could have done the job for RM1.8 billion.
In a series of expose over the last two weeks, Rafizi had alleged that UiTM campus contracts were given to inexperienced “cronies”, some of whom were family members of Umno ministers and deputy ministers. The directs were directly negotiated.
When asked, Abdul Wahid declined to answer whether the government would pay too much under the PFI, which was akin to an installment plan to buy-back privately built schools over 20 years.
He was speaking at a press conference after launching the World Bank’s 10th Malaysia Economic Monitor report, that focused on the country’s trade competitiveness.
The expansion projects for the bumiputera education facilities would not have taken place as the government had no budget for it, Wahid said.
He was defending the inflated cost of the RM8.6 billion projects that the PKR parliamentarian for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli, said have lined the pockets of Umno party members."It's the strategy of the government. If you have to wait for government expenditure, the six campuses will not be built because we have other commitments," Wahid, the head of Economic Planning Unit, told reporters in Putrajaya.
However, he declined to say if the final cost as reported by Rafizi was true.
"I am not familiar with the numbers but I think you must appreciate the concept," said the former senior bank executive who became a government minister after the 13th general election in May last year.
Wahid said that under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) method, the contractors build and also take on the duties of maintaining the buildings and facilities for 20 years before handing these back to the government.
'Gov't came up with PFI idea in 2009'
Abdul Wahid said that the government had planned the UiTM expansions since 2007 but only came up with the PFI idea in 2009, which then accelerated the projects.
“The project started construction in 2011 and with this approach, the campuses were able to be completed by 2014,” he said.
He added that under the PFI, the private contractors also took the risk of financing the campuses in the ‘build, lease and maintain’ contracts.Abdul Wahid’s explanation echoed UiTM, which also issued a statement this week saying that the PFI was “value for money” despite Rafizi’s allegations that the government could have done the job for RM1.8 billion.
In a series of expose over the last two weeks, Rafizi had alleged that UiTM campus contracts were given to inexperienced “cronies”, some of whom were family members of Umno ministers and deputy ministers. The directs were directly negotiated.
When asked, Abdul Wahid declined to answer whether the government would pay too much under the PFI, which was akin to an installment plan to buy-back privately built schools over 20 years.
He was speaking at a press conference after launching the World Bank’s 10th Malaysia Economic Monitor report, that focused on the country’s trade competitiveness.
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