PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should not consider all projects awarded through direct negotiation as irregular, says former environment and water minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.He said as the Finance Minister,
Anwar would have known that negotiations for the flood mitigation project, which needed to be expedited, did not constitute a procurement error.
Tuan Ibrahim, who is also PAS deputy president, said direct negotiation deals were necessary to expedite work for emergency projects.
“As the Prime Minister, he should not consider all projects through direct negotiation tenders as irregular and that there were parties looking for opportunities.
“He knows that many emergency projects need to be expedited to reduce bigger disasters and heavy losses.
“This must be done through direct negotiation methods or selected tenders, especially those involving (the possibility of) disasters such as floods, dam breaks and landslides,” Tuan Ibrahim said in a statement yesterday.
He added, however, that these must comply with the established financial procedures.
All regulatory processes for financial procedures, he said, must be strictly scrutinised in accordance with procedures and guidelines set by the Finance Ministry.
Tuan Ibrahim was responding to a statement by Anwar that RM7bil out of RM15bil approved for flood mitigation initiatives would be put on hold pending a full review of contracts awarded through direct negotiations for possible procedural breaches.
