Sim Moots Stationing Macc Officers In Procurement Units

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PARLIAMENT | A backbencher has urged Putrajaya to station several MACC officers to oversee government procurement matters as a way to prevent delayed projects and fund leakages.
Sim Tze Tzin (Harapan-Bayan Baru) mooted the reform measure in the Dewan Rakyat today, stressing that such an initiative would allow the anti-graft officers to closely monitor procurement processes and “take action” against those who are found to have erred.
“I suggest that the government focus on procurement divisions, because that’s where all these problems happen. I propose placing MACC officers in the procurement divisions of every ministry as well as government departments and agencies.
“It’s important that every procurement division has not one or two, but several MACC officers at every level of procurement,” the PKR MP said while debating the 2025 Auditor-General’s Report Series 3.
Noting that MACC officers are only stationed in “ministries, not procurement divisions,” Sim (above) said the anti-corruption officers could also be assigned to such assignments “officially or undercover”.
Contractors’ ‘pau’ culture
The parliamentarian also said that the “powerful” nature of contractors has gained notoriety, saying: “They can ‘pau’ (exploit) everything from top to bottom… someone else writes the specifications, but contractor companies will ‘pau’.”
“We can’t allow the government to keep wasting millions, billions of ringgit on contracts, only to result in ‘sick projects’ - in the end, those who suffer are our children in schools and the families of our armed forces,” he added.
The auditor-general’s report, tabled in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, detailed that a total of 157 government projects under the 12th Malaysia Plan have been classified as “sick projects” as of Dec 31, 2024.
The Education Ministry recorded the highest number of critically delayed projects with 46 cases, while the Rural and Regional Development Ministry saw 34, followed by the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (12), and the Housing and Local Government Ministry (11).
Four projects were also determined to be more than 20 percent behind schedule, with between two and 10 time extensions granted - some extending up to 785 days.
‘Pity’ for PM
Touching on the previous government’s decision to directly award Spanco Sdn Bhd a government vehicle fleet supply and management contract, Sim said he feels “pity” for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as the latter “has to bear the consequences of past mistakes”.
“I’m not trying to dig up old issues, I just think we need to look forward,” he said, in response to an interjection from Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar) on why Anwar’s administration had not corrected mistakes made in the past.
Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul RahmanThe Muda lawmaker was referring to how the contract was initially awarded to Cekap Urus Sdn Bhd before the Perikatan Nasional administration had given the tender to Spanco at a significant price hike.
Cekap Urus - a joint venture between Berjaya Corporation Bhd, Naza Corporation Holdings Sdn Bhd and Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s daughter Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim - claimed to have been issued a letter of intent to take over the management of the government’s fleet concession from Spanco in 2019.
However, Berjaya Group founder Vincent Tan claimed that the following year, the government under then-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin had terminated the agreement with Cekap Urus to return the tender to Spanco while paying the latter RM700 million more.
In April last year, Spanco chairperson Robert Tan claimed trial to a charge of dishonestly inducing the Finance Ministry into awarding a fleet supply, repair, maintenance and management contract to Spanco in 2019.
Tan, who was charged with cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code, was accused of tricking the ministry into awarding the tender worth RM3.9 billion by claiming that at least 30 percent of Spanco’s shareholders were bumiputera. - Mkini

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