Press Statement

by Lim Guan Eng

(Petaling Jaya, Friday): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s lofty ideals and grand hopes of a national mission of excellence will never succeed if government procurement is not opened up for all and end the discriminatory NEP where 96% of government projects are given to bumis. 

Abdullah had stressed on the importance of human capital, value-adding and knowledge enrichment to achieve an "excellent, glorious and distinctive" nation in the next 50 years. However such ingredients of success are contrary to existing government policies that impede the harnessing of human capital and do not reward those with knowledge, skills or abilities. 

Such grand hopes of “a century of success” for Malaysia would never succeed if Abdullah does not end the discriminatory NEP or open up government procurement to the best and most qualified. Abdullah’s refusal to do so has resulted in systematic failure and breakdown of the delivery system as shown by expensive buildings which are defective upon immediate completion. The latest evidence of such defective work and poor delivery were:

1.    On April 11, a burst pipe at the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya caused widespread damage and brought daily operations to a halt. Operations resumed at 9am the next day;

2.    On April 28, part of the ceiling of a multi-purpose hall at the Entrepreneurial Development and Co-operative Ministry in Putrajaya collapsed, causing a water pipe to drop and burst;

3.    On April 30, two parts of a ceiling panel collapsed and there were deep cracks on the walls the new RM 270 million Jalan Duta Court Complex, the second largest complex in the world;

4.    The Sultan Mahmud Airport in Terengganu was closed for night landings on two nights on 5 & 6 May 2007 because of a malfunction of the runway navigation lights;

5.    On 7  and 9 May 2007 hearings in the same Jalan Duta courts ended early when the air-conditioning malfunctioned and there was a electricity blackout respectively; and

6.    The shameful leaking roof in Parliament on April 2005 in the Dewan Rakyat Chambers that disrupted proceedings and in the media center on 9 May 2007 despite the nearly RM 100 million spent on renovation works. 

Works Minister Datuk S. Samy Vellu again tried to avoid blame by saying that water leakages were common in all buildings and leaking roofs in Parliament happens not only in our country but throughout the world. With such a lackadaisical attitude by Samy, is is not surprising why Abdullah said that he had spoken on this matter until his mouth was dry but still the problem was neither resolved nor the maintenance culture improved.  

So long as the best and most qualified contractor is not appointed, poor delivery system resulting in such shameful building defects will continue. Samy has already indicated the same approach used in the past for appointing contractors for government projects will also be used. 

As at 30 March 2007, 96% of the 773 government projects valued at 27,874 million tendered out under the Ninth Malaysian Plan, has been given to bumi contractors. This is the same percentage for the Eighth Malaysian Plan. With such high percentage of bumi contractors getting jobs, it is clear that merit, performance and efficiency is not amongst the criteria for selection. Why should government jobs not be made available for everyone? 

Despite the best intentions of the Prime Minister to improve the maintenance culture, such intentions will not be realized as long as the NEP is continued and mediocre or worse, unqualified contractors continue to be appointed. Justice and excellence requires that all contractors regardless of race be allowed to do government projects not only to ensure such problems not recur but also maintain the highest standards.