Student group urges UKM to promptly disclose list of tender procurements

 

Student group Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) has urgently demanded that the management of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) disclose its procurement tender list.

It follows a recent investigation launched by the MACC into the university’s misappropriation of tender procurements.

On July 21, the National Audit Department (NAD) found that Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital (HUKM) had failed its compliance procedures for at least three tender procurement processes worth RM58.45 million.

“According to the Audit Department report, out of 165 procurement tenders approved by the UKM Tender Committee in 2024, only seven were audited by the Audit Department. Among these seven audited tenders, three were found to have failed to comply with procedures.

“This demonstrates a staggering non-compliance rate of 42.86 percent. It is highly likely that the remaining unaudited tenders harbour larger-scale suspected corruption or abuse of power.

“Given that public university funding primarily comes from taxpayers, the public has a right to know,” Umany said in a statement today.

Yesterday, MACC governance Investigation director Zaki Hassan told reporters that the anti-graft committee would be focusing its investigation on procurement non-compliance and procedural weaknesses, as outlined in the audit report published in July.

On Nov 22, the MACC also said it would begin investigations into the tender procurement process, and had called five individuals for questioning.

Have independent forensic audit

Separately, in today’s statement, Umany also urged an independent forensic audit for future university procurements, citing internal audits as insufficient due to their responsibilities belonging to the same management.

The group urged an independent forensic report to be submitted directly to the university board of directors, which would then be subject to public scrutiny.

Further, the group also called upon the government to reform existing laws on corruption and cronyism, and suggested establishing an independent body for allocating funds to public universities.

Citing the Hong Kong University Grants Committee as an example, the group suggested that funds be allocated by the government into this independent body, which then transparently distributes the money to public universities.

“This body also acts as a watchdog, requiring universities to submit tender documents and proposals to it and its technical consultants for approval before awarding high-value capital works contracts.

“Such an independent body can effectively prevent the growth of corruption and cronyism,” they said.

“We also urge the government to immediately reform the procurement process of public universities by allowing independent bodies to complete the process, thereby putting an end to corruption and cronyism,” they added.

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Technical, financial assessment guidelines ignored

In July, the Audit Department's report also found that the hospital’s tender committee had ignored technical and financial assessment guidelines by awarding tender procurements to companies that had failed to adhere to compliance procedures.

This also resulted in jeopardising the treatment for cancer patients, after one of the firms failed to provide the hospital with the necessary equipment for radiotherapy.

The Auditor-General’s Report Series 2 released in July

Alongside the cancer treatment equipment issue, the Audit Department also flagged two other tenders that the hospital had approved - one for a food caterer and another to upgrade its lifts

The report also noted that representatives from the Finance Ministry and Higher Education Ministry were absent from discussions on tender procurement procedures. - Mkini