Johoreans lost tens of millions from poor governance - Amanah

The 2016 auditor-general's report on Johor shows millions could have been saved had the government practiced accountability, said an Amanah leader.

Deputy president Salahuddin Ayub pointed to the damning series 1 report, tabled in Parliament on July 31, as having highlighted various issues with the state administration in Umno's stronghold.

"Tens of millions of the Johor people's money could have been saved, if a culture of responsibility and accountability had truly been practices at every level of the state administration," he said.

A close look at the report, he said, would reveal this.

"The audit has specifically and strongly emphasised that Johor is faced with weaknesses in compliance with procedures and government policies in the management of projects," he said.

Salahuddin cited how the report purportedly highlighted direct tenders for procurements by the Kota Tinggi district authorities above RM0.5 million in 2015 and 2016.

Apart from the absence of an open tender, he said, a procurement of RM4.17 million had purportedly been broken up into smaller amounts.

"This not only increases costs, but encourages a culture of cronyism," he said.

Other instances Salahuddin cited from the report include wastage by five local councils on RM0.90 million in procurement left unused, another case of gymnasium equipment purchased in 2015 that is still in boxes, and reports of poor work quality.

"More disappointing is how fraud has been reported, where the same contractor with different company names has been getting procurement projects from the state," he said.

"The audit also issued a strong warning that procurement or projects should not continue to be awarded without open tender," Salahuddin added.

He lamented such lapses resulted in higher costs to the state, while affecting taxpayers in terms of service delivery time and quality.

"While they are the ones who pay the taxes, what they pay doesn't match up to what they receive (from the state)," he said.  Mkini