No black and white for ventilators bought under Adham, says PAC

 

Then Tenggara MP Dr Adham Baba served as health minister at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has confirmed that the purchase of 104 ventilators during Dr Adham Baba’s tenure as health minister was made without a written agreement, as reported in the PAC’s previous report.

This was confirmed by PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin at a press conference regarding the report on Putrajaya’s Covid-19 management, the expiry of vaccines, as well as unusable ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE).

“As everyone already knows, all this (was done) under (then health minister) Dr Adham Baba.

“YB KJ (former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin) already gave his statement, saying it was not during his time (as the health minister),” she said at a press conference in Parliament.

On Monday, the PAC disclosed that no action could be taken over the defective ventilators supplied to the government, following the absence of a written agreement between the health ministry and Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd (PLSB).

The PAC also revealed that there were a total of 8.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, worth RM505 million, which expired on June 1, 2023.

Mas Ermieyati said the health ministry was given two months to respond to the five recommendations given by the PAC, to address the shortcomings found in the management of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“In every issue investigated by the PAC, two reports will be prepared, and these two reports will go through five meetings before they can be presented in Parliament.

“This shows how committed the PAC is to ensuring that the people know what the government is doing with regards to all the recommendations raised by the PAC,” she said. - FMT