MP questions RM6.5 billion army food bill

The RM6 billion contract for army rations listed on the new government procurement website has raised the eyebrow of Petaling Jaya MP Tony Pua.
Pua said the figure, obtained from the government's new procurement information website - MyProcurement, was so excessive that it was sufficient enough to purchase four Scorpene submarines.
"I'd like to believe that there were some decimal point errors involved," said Pua sarcastically, during a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.
He said this while commenting on his findings after scouring the MyProcurement website, launched by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last week.
Pua described the new website as lackluster effort to promote transparency because of incomplete information. In one instance, 38 contracts were awarded to anonymous companies.
One of these 'mystery' contracts which caught Pua's attention was a RM82.8 million contract to supply military body armour, which lacked basic details such as quantity.
"A quick study of the portal will certainly leave one with plenty to be desired... the information available often leads to more questions than answers.
"The portal will be of little use to the public. The portal does not even provide basic useful information such as the date of tender, date of award or even the number of participants."
Directly negotiated contracts
Pua said it is also disturbing that the government has refused to disclose details behind directly negotiated contracts.
He said this was not in line with Government Transformation Programme target of full disclosure for government procurements, which has been practiced in Singapore and South Korea.
"The biggest problem of the government's procurement system is the award of directly negotiated contracts for these contracts are often awarded via patronage to rent-seekers, resulting in not only wastage and corruption, but also substandard and even failed projects."
Pua cited the Shah Alam hospital project as a failed directly negotiated project, which is now in limbo due to a legal tussle between main contractor - owned by the Selangor princess Tengku Putri Arafiah Sultan Abd Aziz Shah - and subcontractor.
In view of the government's refusal, Pua questioned the federal government's commitment towards ensuring transparency and abuse in government procurements.
"(I have) strong doubts as to whether he has the political will to carry out the necessary reforms to wipe out rent-seeking and patronage which is entrenched in government procurement."