JOHOR BARU: The Health Ministry has been briefed about the Auditor-General’s report about the government losing RM13.07mil over the procurement of 93 defective ventilators, says Dr Zaliha Mustafa (pic).
The Health Minister said she had taken note of the matter, which took place in 2021, and would be looking at ways to make improvements.
"Like many other procurements, this was done during the emergency period.
"We will see how we can improve (in the future)," she told reporters after launching the Wellness Hub at Hospital Sultanah Aminah here on Sunday (Feb 19).
She did not elaborate further when probed, as she was rushing off to another engagement.
On Feb 16, Auditor-General Datuk Seri Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid revealed that the government incurred RM13.07mil losses over the procurement of 93 defective ventilators for Health Ministry facilities in 2021.
Earlier, Dr Zaliha said findings by a special committee formed to produce a White Paper on the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccines, which was also done during the emergency period, would be concluded soon.
"We have no set timeframe but it will be concluded as soon as possible.
"Once done, it will be brought into the cabinet for approval before it is presented in Parliament," she added.
On Feb 10, she said that a White Paper, following the decision of a Cabinet meeting on Jan 18, would be presented in Parliament to provide a comprehensive overview of the management of the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.
This was to address the findings of the Attorney General's Chambers and the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department, which had conducted investigations into the terms of the Covid-19 vaccine supply agreement which were signed and made during the emergency period.
On Feb 15, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, when asked to comment on the issue of the government further investigating the vaccine procurement process, stated that the ministry had presented everything on the matter to the 14th PAC.
"We have answered on this matter to the PAC. There were 512 pages which we passed to PAC and the then-PAC chairman had made announcements on this.
"This is not for the Health Ministry to answer. Should we answer, it would be undermining the authority of the PAC," said Dr Noor Hisham.
