THE procurement of the MySejahtera application was not done according to government procurement procedures, even though it was executed on the basis of “corporate social responsibility (CSR)”, said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
In a report tabled in Parliament yesterday, the PAC said this breach of procurement procedure also extended to the appointment of KPISoft (Entomo) as the app’s developer.
“There were no minutes or supporting documents which exist relating to the appointment. The only document is the non-disclosure agreement, which was signed between the National Security Council (NSC) and KPISoft,” it added.
The committee also found that the government lacked clarity on the direction of the procurement of the app due to the CSR concept proposed by KPISoft.
“The government was confused in terms of the appointment of KPISoft, the CSR concept, and the ownership period of the MySejahtera app,” it said, adding that the RM196mil cost ceiling was also too high.
“The Finance Ministry had set a ceiling price of RM196mil for the procurement of MySejahtera for a period of two years (RM98mil a year). This amount is high and goes against the concept of CSR,” said the committee in the report.
It added that the concept of CSR may have been used to justify the project without having to go through proper procedures.
“There are no documents to say that the CSR was only for a year.
“The government seemed to be stuck and had to make a decision by appointing MySJ Sdn Bhd through direct negotiations,” it said, adding that the development and continued use of the app should remain a CSR activity.
PAC also said that as of April, the government had yet to register the intellectual property (IP) for MySejahtera on MyIPO, which means the developer could still lay claim to the IP.
“The government had stressed that it was the owner of the MySejahtera app, but the developer KPISoft (Entomo) was found to have claimed that it was the owner of the IP for the MySejahtera app,” the report said.
It further added that the Cabinet’s decision to have the government take over the application from the developer showed that the application was still owned by the developer.
The PAC also said the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) should take over the development and operation of the MySejahtera app.
It said that this was due to Mampu having the expertise and capability as an information and communications technology body.
It added that it has also given a few recommendations to the government, which included reviewing the rationale for the awarding of the project, which was done via direct negotiations.
The committee also said the government has to take a more prudent approach in all procurement processes.
“All offers made through CSR are welcome, but the terms related to the offer must be spelled out clearly and cannot be used as an alternative to direct negotiations.
“Guidelines must be developed to manage the CSR offer,” it said.
Other recommendations include the government taking full ownership of the app to ensure the safety of the data of users to prevent any abuse, and continuing the use of the app as a tool for public health management in line with the plan to digitalise the healthcare service.
PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh said in an accompanying statement that two proceedings were held on the issue, on April 14 and April 21, respectively.
Eight witnesses were summoned, including Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Treasury secretary-general Datuk Asri Hamidon, Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Harjeet Singh Hardev Singh and NSC director-general Datuk Rodzi Md Saad, among others.
Meanwhile, Khairy told the PAC that one of the main terms of the non-disclosure agreement signed between NSC and KPISoft on April 1 states that the government has full ownership of all information and data that is obtained through MySejahtera until a new contract is signed.
