Telan RM750 Juta Duit Rakyat Termasuk Program Bodoh Nasi Lemak RM2/=

 "free sanitary napkin dispensing within health ministry offices is assisting some of the highest salaried people" 

The people who are determining policy are well paid consulting and public relations agencies, who are certainly not working pro bono.

The effect of this policy won’t raise the incomes of those in poverty. As Dr Williams says, the beneficiaries are a network of cronies who run consultancy firms, public relations firms, fabricators and contractors.

 

The following is an article by Murray Hunter. My comments in blue.

 

 

Murray Hunter

Counterproductive results, cock-ups, and conflicts of interest in policy development and delivery

No change in the policy model, transparency needed to ensure policy effectiveness and prevent corruption

In an illuminating OpEd by Dr Geoffrey Williams, ‘Stop helping the poor’, a number of weaknesses on poverty eradication strategies were highlighted. 

Dr Williams highlighted that programs like Menu Rahmah, Inisiatif Pendapatan Rakyat (IPR), that encompass The Agro Entrepreneur Initiative (Intan), The Services Operator Initiative (Ikhsan), and the Food Entrepreneur Initiative (Insan), do not directly help the poor, nor encourage and assist the development of MSMEs.

Dr Williams gave the example of promoting RM2 nasi lemak sales through vending machines. 

The RM 750 million program really benefits consultants, contractors, suppliers, and middlemen rather than the target group of MSMEs and the poor.

In fact, there is evidence that the RM 2 nasi lemak program is actually taking business away from petty vendors around the vicinities of vending machines. 

Besides the program providing a competitive product to existing vendors, the RM 2 nasi lemak is driving prices down to a point where petty vendors will have to close up their stalls.

A quick talk to some petty vendors found great dissatisfaction the govt had assisted businesses to compete with them. 

One vendor argued that if they were given assistance and premium space around LRT stations, they too could sell fresh nasi lemak at RM 2 per packet.

• The designers and contractors of the vending machines should refund their consulting fees to the ministry, as the vending machines have been found to have many faults. 
• Packets are ripped inside the machines, fail to dispense properly and clog the machines. 
• Some consumers also complain that the nasi lemak should be renamed ‘basi lemak’ because of poor machine servicing and rotation of stocks. 
• The self-life of nasi lemak should be counted in hours and not days.

This project, along with the free sanitary napkin dispensing within health ministry offices is assisting some of the highest salaried people, rather than those in real need of assistance. It is certainly misguided and tokenistic.

OSTB : First of all what is the price or cost of those nasi lemak vending machines? RM15,000 a piece? RM30,000 a piece? And how many such vending machines have been installed? Who is the very lucky supplier who got the contract to supply the vending machines?

Can we have some transparency over the prices and the supplier of those vending machines? Direct nego or open tender? 

Untuk menyimpang sikit (to digress a little) Abang Mat has revealed in Parliament that the eggs from India were sourced through ONE SUPPLIER. Another government licensed monopoly. Abang Mat salamullahi alaikum. Abang Mat perlu jawab - kontrak impot telor dari India diberi kontrak secara tender terbuka atau rundingan terus? Kita perlu ada transparensi yang lebih.  Siapa supplier yang dapat kontrak impot telor dari India itu? Apa nama dia? Pasal apa  telor dari India dijual dengan harga 50 sen sebiji? Padahal supplier Malaysia sudah  boleh supply pada harga ke bawah 50 sen sebiji. Tambah lagi telor dari India itu lower quality daripada telor Gred C kita pula. Ini niaga style apa?

Balik kepada nasi lemak vending machines, why is this gomen putting the makcik nasi lemak out of business? As mentioned above, if you use taxpayers money RM750 million for this ridiculous program, if you pay the suppliers millions of Ringgit  for the vending machines and then you place those vending machines at prime locations like LRT/MRT stations of course then how is the makcik nasi lemak going to compete with the gomen just flushing taxpayers money down the toilet?

Why flushing money down the toilet? Because if you factor the cost of those vending machines (paid using taxpayers money), the rental (or the opportunity cost of rental) to place those vending machines at the LRT stations, plus the cost of making those nasi lemak packets then what is your total cost to make one packet of nasi lemak?

FOR A CERTAINTY IT WILL BE MORE THAN RM 2.00 PER PACKET. 

So this means you are most likely selling those RM2.00 nasi lemak packets from those vending machines at a loss. At a loss to the taxpayers. Plus you are also putting the makcik nasi lemak out of business. 

This is a really stupid idea.

Let Us Eat Cake

Let them eat cake strategies

This indicates that the ruling parties, Pakatan Harapan in particular did not have any real vision and plan to alleviate poverty before they came to office. The people who are determining policy are well paid consulting and public relations agencies, who are certainly not working pro bono.

The effect of this policy won’t raise the incomes of those in poverty. As Dr Williams says, the beneficiaries are a network of cronies who run consultancy firms, public relations firms, fabricators and contractors.

There could not have been an effective and fair tender process building up these new supply and logistics chains in such a short time. The civil service just doesn’t work that fast.

Another concern is how all these projects are being developed, approved and dished out to various stakeholders. The finance ministry appears to be the gatekeeper. This is where all sorts of difficulties arise in transparency. 

One must be extra careful to ensure full transparency, so there can be no accusations of conflict of interest, favouritism, nepotism, or kleptocracy. Working pro bono will not clear anyone of these accusations.

If that’s not the case, then the arrest and charging of Bersatu’s Wan Saiful Wan Jan in connection with the Jana Wibawa programme is just a another political witch-hunt.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.