Wee: Strange of Loke to avoid open tender

Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said it was strange of his predecessor Anthony Loke to not call for fresh tender on the Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase 2 (KVDT 2) project despite knowing that this was the cheaper option.

In a statement today, Wee said Loke had told the cabinet on Sept 19, 2018 that the price tag would be reduced to between RM3 billion and RM3.5 billion.

"The question is: Why wasn't (an open tender) called? Worse still, 10 months later the project was offered (to the original contractor) on July 2 at a price tag of RM4.475 billion.

"Isn't that strange?" he asked. 

The KVDT 2 was the most expensive contract awarded by the Pakatan Harapan administration without an open tender process.

This project was initially signed by then transport minister and former MCA president Liow Tiong Lai on April 4, 2018 a day before Parliament was dissolved.

Joint venture firm Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd won the RM5.265 billion project. By 2019, the Harapan administration pared down the bill to RM4.475 billion.

Earlier today, Loke issued a statement addressing Wee's plans to call for a fresh tender, which inadvertently was an admission that the RM5.265 billion price tag agreed by Liow in 2018 was too much.

Loke also affirmed that he did inform cabinet that an open tender process would allow the bill to be reduced to between RM3 billion to RM3.5 billion.

However, the cabinet at the time decided not to because of the legal risks involved and that it did not want to delay the project any further.

Anthony Loke

Wee appeared to have ignored this explanation altogether in his statement.

Both the BN and Harapan era contracts that were not awarded through an open tender process have come under scrutiny following Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz's decision to release a list of 101 projects awarded under the Harapan administration.

Critics have accused Zafrul of being selective and for also including contracts that were initiated under the BN-era into the list.

Others have accused Harapan of reneging a purported promise to do away with direct award contracts. 

However, Harapan figures have pointed out that item 23 of its election manifesto saw them promising to increase the use of open tenders, but never promised to scrap direct awards, which would have been impractical.

Putrajaya's penchant of avoiding open tenders have long been criticised because it was open to abuse, as it would encourage cronyism and discourage true competition. - Mkini