The powerful RM100mil men of the ministries

PETALING JAYA: Ministry secretaries-general are powerful people, with authority to dole out huge sums of money. A secretary-general can sign contracts worth up to RM100mil.

The limit can be raised even higher with permission from the Finance Ministry.

“The RM100mil limit was fixed for all ministries by the Finance Ministry,” said Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min.

“If any ministry wants to raise the limit, they have to get permission from the Finance Ministry,” he added.

According to the Government Contracts Act 1949 (Act 120), all government contracts may be signed by a Minister or by any public officer duly authorised in writing by the respective Minister.

In the 2014 Auditor-General’s Report, a former Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries (MOA) secretary-general had signed off on a RM268.222mil deal with a private firm in 2012 despite having no authority to do.

This went against a 2009 circular by the Government that an MOA secretary-general can only sign contracts of between RM20mil and RM100mil.

The MOA later admitted it made an error and that the matter was not done intentionally.

Former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said all senior officers at a ministry must take the lead role to ensure there was no hanky-panky in procurement and awarding of contracts.

“The PAC and Auditor-General only looks at whether there is compliance with procedures. It’s up to the ministry to take action over misdeeds,” said Nur Jazlan, who is Deputy Home Minister.

PAC deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw said there were already enough laws and procedures to govern the duties and responsibilities of chief secretaries.

Dr Tan said the PAC would usually recommend further investigations into cases of mismanagement and may also include the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission stepping in if elements of corruption or abuse of power were found.

A source said secretaries-general do not have the power to approve projects on their own. All projects must be put through a tender board which will comprise various committees, including financial and technical.

The officers involved in the tender process will also come from other ministries such as the Finance Ministry.

Approval from the Finance Ministry is also required before any project is done via direct negotiation or restricted tender.

The source said the ceiling amount that other senior ministry officials can sign will vary according to ministries. This is because some ministries have bigger budgets and, as such, the value of contracts are larger than others.

As an example, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, in a notice on Aug 26 last year, authorised the ministry’s secretary-general to sign on behalf of the Government contracts of works, supplies and services worth up to RM100mil.

The ministry deputy secretary-general was authorised to sign for contracts worth up to RM50mil.