101 govt projects given via direct negotiations during Pakatan rule

PETALING JAYA: A RM4.475bil contract given to Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd for Phase 2 of the Klang Valley Double Track (KVDT2) rehabilitation project was the largest contract awarded directly by the previous Pakatan Harapan government.

It was among the four contracts via direct negotiations by the Transport Ministry.

The value of these four contracts, given out during the Pakatan Harapan administration, were the highest of any other ministry.

The Pakatan government cancelled the contract for the second phase of the (KVDT2) project in September 2018 for cost-saving measures.

But 10 months later, it re-awarded the project to Syarikat Dhaya Maju LTAT Sdn Bhd – which is an 80:20 joint venture between Dhaya Maju Infrastructure (Asia) Sdn Bhd (DMIA) and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).

In announcing this on July 9 last year, then Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the renegotiated contract came in at RM4.475bil, which was 15% lower than the original RM5.26bil.

Altogether, 20 ministries were responsible for the 101 government projects that were awarded via direct negotiation during Pakatan’s administration from May 2018 to February this year.

The Defence Ministry and the Home Ministry had awarded six contracts worth RM900.86mil and eight contracts worth RM517.68mil respectively.

The ministries were then helmed by Amanah’s Mohamad Sabu and Bersatu’s Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Communications and Multimedia Ministry awarded 12 contracts worth RM380mil while the Local and Housing Ministry awarded two contracts that were worth RM170mil.

DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo and Zuraida Kamaruddin – who was then in PKR but is now in Bersatu – had helmed the ministries respectively then.

The Education Ministry, which was under Maszlee Malik – who was then in Bersatu – had awarded seven contracts worth RM87.49mil.

The Health Ministry under Amanah’s Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad awarded four contracts worth RM10.87mil while the International Trade and Industry Ministry under Warisan’s Datuk Darell Leiking awarded nine contacts worth a total of RM10.36mil.

The Finance Ministry, which was under Lim Guan Eng, had awarded four contracts worth RM9.03mil.

The Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry awarded the most number of contracts at 13, worth a total of RM5.67mil.

The Finance Ministry released the list and details of the 101 contracts worth RM6.61bil on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz said the list was released after there were requests for the projects to be revealed.

The Finance Ministry however stated there were five conditions where direct negotiations were permitted, including an urgent need where tenders could not be conducted immediately and compatibility issues.

The other conditions were that there was only one supplier of the product or service, it involved security or strategic importance to the country, and where a bumiputra manufacturer had fulfilled all the requirements.

On Monday, the Dewan Rakyat erupted when Tengku Zafrul claimed that Pakatan had awarded contracts through direct negotiations.

Tengku Zafrul’s revelation caused several Barisan Nasional as well Perikatan Nasional lawmakers to demand the list of the projects to be released.