A TOTAL of 163 government projects were either cancelled or deferred since 2018, the Finance Ministry revealed.
It said there was no need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to be set up to look into the cancellations, as data showed that there were no significant losses in respect of allocations used by ministries.
“In May 2018, the Finance Ministry issued a directive to suspend all government procurements conducted through open tender, restricted tender and direct negotiation for the procurement of supplies, services, consultancy and works as part of efforts to improve governance and the implementation of government procurement,” it said in a written parliamentary reply.
A month later, the ministry said all government procurements done through open tender, restricted tender and direct negotiation for which a Letter of Acceptance had yet to be issued were to be cancelled and re-tendered through either open tender or pre-qualified open tender.
“The government’s decision at that time also formed the basis for the review of government procurement procedures,” it said.
The ministry was responding to Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) on the list of federal projects that were cancelled or deferred since 2018, the amount of compensation paid or potentially payable for each project and whether an RCI will be established to examine the losses incurred by the country.
It said measures by the government included categorisation of projects according to priority, approval for the extension of existing contracts and reducing supply quantities or the scope of services or works without affecting functionality.
It also involved the abolition of Agency Procurement Board ‘B’, with its functions consolidated under Agency Procurement Board ‘A’, accompanied by revised financial approval thresholds.
“The government’s decision in that year also formed the basis for the proposed enactment of the Government Procurement Act, with the objective of strengthening government procurement governance,” the ministry added.
