Rafizi says Bestinet objections raised in cabinet, dares Ramanan to reveal minutes

 

Rafizi Ramli has challenged Human Resources Minister R Ramanan to seek Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's permission to declassify and release cabinet meeting minutes related to Bestinet Sdn Bhd's migrant worker management system contract.

In a statement, the Pandan MP said the official record will either vindicate or condemn him, and that he is prepared to be judged for it.

The challenge comes after Ramanan's political secretary, Aizuddin Abd Ghafal, accused Rafizi of inconsistency, claiming he had stayed silent on Bestinet's Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) contract during his tenure as economy minister, and had only found his voice after quitting the cabinet.

Aizuddin Abd Ghafal

However, Rafizi flatly rejected this, insisting that his objections were formally recorded in cabinet meeting minutes and official correspondence from the ministry.

“The proposal concerning Bestinet was brought by the Home Ministry and presented to the cabinet around mid-2024 (to the best of my recollection).

“At the time, Aizuddin was a special officer to the home minister (Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) and should recall the written objection from the Economy Ministry and me,” he said.

Home Ministry’s proposal

Rafizi recalled that the Home Ministry had proposed extending the FWCMS contract with Bestinet for only three years, or until the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) becomes operational.

“As a central agency, the Economy Ministry has the right to provide its views to the cabinet on such proposals.

“Officially, I stated that I did not agree and requested that the proposal be reviewed by the Home Ministry,” he said.

Rafizi revealed that his ministry’s objection at the time was based on the following factors:

• The Human Resources Ministry had spent RM20 million from development funds provided by the Economy Ministry to develop the government-owned Integrated Foreign Workers Management System (ePPAx).

• The ePPAx system had already been completed and developed for the purpose of managing migrant workers.

• The National Economic Action Council (Mten) and the cabinet had approved the implementation of the Multi-Tier Levy Management (MTLM) system to gradually reduce the intake of migrant workers.

• The Human Resources Ministry had indeed proposed that the ePPAx system be used for the management of migrant worker employment and for MTLM.

• For the use of ePPAx, the Finance Ministry had also approved RM10 million in operating expenditure to upgrade the system for the implementation of MTLM.

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“The FWCMS and Bestinet episode is just one of the issues I raised internally.

“It answers accusations that I had remained silent within the government, when in fact, I could only speak through official documents that were confidential while I was in office,” Rafizi said.

“That responsibility is now continued from outside the government.

“The difference is that I am no longer bound by official documents and the ethics of collective responsibility that bind a minister,” he added.

Yesterday, Rafizi and nine other PKR MPs submitted an objection to purported plans to award Bestinet another government contract to replace its FWCMS with a new system called The Universal Recruitment Advanced Platform (Turap).

In their statement, the PKR lawmakers said FWCMS had been plagued by issues, casting doubt on Bestinet’s ability to develop such a system.

Bestinet has denied the allegations against it.

The Human Resources Ministry previously stressed that all proposals related to a digital migrant worker recruitment system are still at the evaluation stage and have not been finalised. - Mkini