PUTRAJAYA: A contract worth RM190.01mil was awarded to HeiTech Padu Bhd before Datuk Farhash Wafa Salvador, the former political secretary to the Prime Minister, became the largest company shareholder, says Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
Fahmi, who is also unity government spokesman, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Transport Minister Anthony Loke provided a comprehensive explanation during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (April 17) about the contract awarded to Hietech Padu by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).
It was reported that Farhash had acquired a 15.91% share in Heitech Padu Bhd with the purchase of 16.1 million shares in the company through Rosetta Partners Sdn Bhd on March 12.
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"They explained to the Cabinet, as an example, the effectiveness of the vehicle and driver information system (MySikap) system, of which the project was awarded to and won by Heitech Padu through an open tender.
"It was approved by the Transport Ministry's tender board on Nov 24, 2023, while the ministry approved it on Feb 2, 2024.
"The purchase of shares by Roseeta Partners Sdn Bhd took place on March 16 (2024), which means the decision to award the tender to Heitech Padu was made last year, so it is not linked to any individual's position when the approval was given," he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"The Prime Minister also said that HeiTech Padu had not received any new approvals for any tender recently," he added.
ALSO READ: Heitech Padu awarded MySikap maintenance contract on merit, says Loke
On Monday (April 15), it was reported that Heitech Padu had secured a three-year contract worth RM190.01mil from JPJ, starting May 1 to April 30, 2027.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, HeiTech Padu said the contract is for the maintenance and technical support for ICT Infrastructure, including the MySikap system at the data centre and JPJ offices.
At the same event, Fahmi also announced that Malaysia would host the Global Ulama Conference in Petaling Jaya in May.
"The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar proposed the memorandum to hold the conference, which is organised by the Muslim World League based in Saudi Arabia.
"The event will be organised with the cooperation of the Islamic Development Department (Jakim).
"Among the issues to be discussed are current issues including extremism happening in the Muslim world," he added.
