KUALA LUMPUR: With Malaysia’s dark history with corruption and past transgressions, transparency and accountability is no longer optional but a mandatory demand, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, stressing that the culture of awarding contracts through direct negotiations will no longer continue.
“The long history of this country is filled with dark and bitter lessons with past transgressions from the Maminco scandal in the 1980s, the collapse of Bank Bumiputera, the massive losses from forex trading, Perwaja Steel, several privatisation exercises to the 1MDB tragedy, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) procurement, military acquisitions, and most recently, the Jana Wibawa scandal,” Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said as he tabled the Government Procurement Bill for the second reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday(Aug 27).
"We must ensure that such incidents never repeat themselves in the future,” he added.
“We also stress that the practice of awarding contracts through direct negotiation must not continue,” he said.
He said the Bill will cancel the rights and decisions of the Finance Minister or any other authorities, if a tender is awarded without proper procedures.
“Other than these tenders, we have seen hegemony and monopolies of cartels including for something as small as eggs, chicken, vegetables, medicines and defence assets,” he said.
He said the Bill was in line with the Madani government’s commitment to institutional reforms and strengthening audits by following public money and proper fiscal management.
“We give full freedom to the enforcement agencies, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), and the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to carry out their duties without interference from any party,” he said, adding that procurement must follow proper procedures.
