Direct tender opens space for corruption

SHAH ALAM - A high-value project tender cannot be done directly as it may be an opportunity for elements of misconduct and corruption to emerge.

Ikram Malaysia Organisation president Badlishah Sham Baharin said valuable projects should be handled through a limited tender, especially when they involved sensitive assets such as the military.

“Military assets are not suitable to be conducted through open tender as it’s related to the secret of military strength and strategy, hence it was irrelevant to reveal to the public.

“Direct negotiation can be exposed to corruption if the negotiation terms are not transparent and have a sense of bias,” he told Sinar Harian on Wednesday.

Last Tuesday, Muar MPSyed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman revealed after the Royal Malaysian Navy littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal Malaysia became the talk of the town, now there were allegations that involved Self Propelled Cannon Howitzer (SPH) linked to the Defence Ministry and the Finance Ministry (MoF)

Syed Saddiq claimed MoF had approved the acquisition of SPH and the infrastructure was done by direct negotiation with MA Analytics Company Sdn Bhd which should have been implemented by limited tender.

In the meantime, Badlishah also suggested the government’s acquisition system should be improvised with a check and balance system.

“Independent committee should exist to monitor the spending of valuable projects and responsible for reporting to the Parliament,” he said.