The MACC has been told to investigate the granting of the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) project which was granted by the then MCA-led Transport Ministry to a firm whose shareholder includes an MCA leader.
The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) made the call in light of the Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) finding that there was indeed political influence in the award of the RM145 million contract.
The Transport Ministry in 2015, under MCA's Liow Tiong Lai, had awarded the contract to TCSens Sdn Bhd of which the party's central committee member Wee Jeck Seng held 25 percent of the shares.
Liow, who was the MCA president, denied knowledge about Wee's involvement in the company.
"It becomes laughable that denials and feigned ignorance quickly followed suit.
"C4 Center urges the MACC to investigate the matter of the VEP contract award, along with any other potentially involved persons to this contract, as a next step to the PAC’s investigation," it said.
It noted that similar instances have happened before, including the direct negotiation by the previous BN government for the RM5.26 billion Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase 2 project and the Port Klang Free Trade Zone project, both under the Transport Ministry.
"In view of the above, C4 Center would add its concerns to those of the PAC, that conflicts of interest and undue influence are major enablers of corruption.
"We call for an immediate overhaul of the procurement process, with transparency being the aim to deter instances of self-gratification, bribes and potential corruption," it said.
C4 Center said the controversy could have been avoided with an open tender system.
"Unfortunately, while there are indeed regulations for public procurement, there also exist loopholes, such as Treasury Circular VK713 as mentioned by Liow in his testimony (to the PAC) for the VEP contract award case.
"Liow had testified to the PAC that the ministry decided to use the circular on the basis that the timeline given to implement the project was short," it said.
It added that a short timeline was not an excuse to cut corners.
C4 Center also called for an ombudsman office to provide oversight over such procurements.
"C4 Center pushes strongly for the ombudsman bill drafted to cater to real-time complaints of wastages or leakages in infrastructure and other government sectors under the time of the Pakatan Harapan administration, to be put back onto the table for MPs to debate urgently.
"This bill should not be allowed to go under the radar, and we should not let it disappear from our sight," it said.
The VEP project was intended to implement and manage a system for charging Singapore-registered vehicles entering the country. - Mkini
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