Thursday, June 26, 2014

DPM: Rafizi does not understand UiTM deal


Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is not surprised that Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli is continuing his allegations of cronyism against Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) because the latter does not understand the deal.

As such, he said the cabinet has asked Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar to explain the issue in a few days, in his capacity as the minister responsible for the Economic Planning Unit.

"The cabinet has decided yesterday. Although UiTM issued an explanatory statement, perhaps there are still things that Rafizi still doesn't understand on the private finance initiative (PFI) concept.

"We have done many projects under PFI. It may seem too expensive, but there is basis for the model used," he told a press conference today.

In a series of press conferences, Rafizi (left) had claimed that the government has handed the construction of UiTM’s six new campuses to a number inexperienced companies allegedly linked to Umno leaders through direct negotiation.

He said this caused the cost of the new campuses to balloon from RM1.8 billion to RM8.6 billion.

However, UiTM countered that the deals under the PFI scheme offers good value for money because they include a stringent valuation process.

Unamused, Rafizi said UiTM did not address his allegations of cronyism, and said UiTM’s implementation of PFI is flawedbecause the projects are directed tendered to inexperienced companies instead of being open tendered.

‘It’s performance that matters’

On another matter, Muhyiddin acknowledged the Malaysia’s cabinet is large, but said that is it their performance that matters.

“It is big. Even the prime minister admits this. But the important thing is whether it preforms... Therefore ministers who have been appointed need to prove their effectiveness.

“We have key performance indices (KPI) for all these, so when we have KPIs, it would measure our ability that to perform our duties for the party and for the government,” he said.

He also echoed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s statement yesterday that the larger cabinet isunavoidable.

Yesterday, Najib appointed to new ministers and four new deputy ministers from MCA and Gerakan into the cabinet, bringing the total to 35 ministers and 27 deputy ministers.

Their combined remuneration total to RM6.3 million a yearaccording to Malaysiakini’s analysis, excluding allowances and their monthly stipend as MPs and senators.

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