Jana Wibawa implemented after Cabinet approval, says witness

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court here was told that the proposed Jana Wibawa programme was presented to the Cabinet meeting for consideration before the Cabinet decided to give the go-ahead to the programme in 2020.

The Programme for the Empowerment of Competent Bumiputera Contractors (Jana Wibawa) was introduced during the administration of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to speed up project implementation and to boost the country’s economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Finance Ministry (MOF) Government Procurement Division deputy secretary Rosni Mohd Yusoff, 52, said this during cross-examination on Monday (April 29) by lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad at the trial of the corruption and money laundering case involving Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

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Amer Hamzah: Do you agree that there was a proposal from the then Finance Minister (Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz) to the former Prime Minister (Muhyiddin) to implement the Jana Wibawa programme and the former Prime Minister mentioned the matter on Aug 3, 2020, regarding his agreement to consider Jana Wibawa programme?

Rosni: Yes, agree.

Amer Hamzah: Following the proposal, the Jana Wibawa programme was then presented to the Cabinet meeting.

Rosni: Agreed.

The third prosecution witness agreed with the lawyer's suggestion that the Cabinet had considered the proposal from the Finance Minister and had confirmed and decided to implement the Jana Wibawa programme on Nov 13, 2020.

Rosni, who is currently working as the Statutory Body Strategy Division secretary, also concurred with the lawyer that the Jana Wibawa could only be implemented after obtaining approval from the Cabinet.

According to her, there are two ways to implement the Jana Wibawa programme, namely via direct negotiations or pre-qualified open tenders.

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At the previous proceedings, Rosni said the Prime Minister's Office determined whether the approval of the Jana Wibawa project was through direct negotiations or pre-qualified open tenders.

Wan Saiful, 47, is charged with soliciting bribes from Lian Tan Chuan as an inducement for him to assist Nepturis Sdn Bhd in obtaining the RM232 million Central Spine Road: Sertik to the East Coast Expressway Intersection project,

He was also charged with receiving RM6,962,694.54 in cash via a CIMB Bank Bhd account owned by his company WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd from Nepturis’ Maybank Islamic Bhd account as a fee for assisting the company in obtaining the project’s acceptance letter.

The Tasek Gelugor MP allegedly committed both offences at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana here in April 2022 and at the CIMB Bank Bhd Bukit Tunku branch between July 8 and Sept 30, 2022.

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He is also facing 18 charges of money laundering involving RM5.59 million by transferring and using the illegal proceeds to pay for a Ford Ranger, payments to the National Sports Council, and transferring the money to several company accounts, including one owned by Sinar Karangkraf Sdn Bhd.

The offences were all allegedly committed at the CIMB Bank Bhd Bukit Tunku branch here between Aug 12 and Nov 13, 2022, and the charges were framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

The trial before Judge Rozina Ayob continues on Tuesday (April 30) - Bernama