Kong Choy should fully explain the second scandal since he became Transport Minister – e-Kesihatan scandal which is also the latest example of e-government in Malaysia degenerating into e-scams

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Media Statement (2)
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Saturday): Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy should fully explain the second scandal since he became Transport Minister – the e-Kesihatan scandal which is also the latest example of e-government in Malaysia degenerating into e-scams.

The first scandal during Chan’s stewardship as Transport Minister is the RM 4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal, for which a full and proper accounting has still to be furnished by him.

Although the Cabinet on Wednesday decided to postpone the eKesihatan health screening of commercial drivers to enable the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to co-ordinate the implementation of the programme, what are exactly the implications of the Cabinet decision.

Does it mean that the RM 450 million 15-year eKesihatan middleman concession to centralize the health screening of commercial drivers, scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, had been merely postponed with the monopoly position of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd. basically unaffected or could the whole concession monopoly be scrapped?

And in the latter, would Supremme Systems be compensated a substantial amount resulting in a “heads I will, tail you lose” situation for the company at the expense of the taxpayers, as had happened in the past like the Johore Baru crooked half-bridge cancellation, where the contractor Gerbang Perdana Sdn. Bhd had been paid compensation of RM 257.4 million, although the government had earlier computed a RM 100 million compensation!

Chan should make public the full details of the eKesihatan contract which had been signed between the Road Transport Department and Suprmme Systems Sdn. Bhd, whether the Transport Ministry had fully committed the government to compensate Supremme Systems for delays in implementing the eKesihatan scheme, like the postponement decided by the Cabinet on Wednesday.

After the shocking disclosures of pervasive mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report and the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal caused by the Transport Minister unlawfully committing the government to stand guarantee for RM4 billion bonds issued by a private company developing the PKFZ, Malaysians are entitled to demand higher standards of accountability to avoid repetition of the same mistakes in the Transport Ministry and the continued mismanagement of public funds.

Chan should also clarify many public interest issues and questions swirling round the e-Kesihatan controversy, particularly the rationale for a middleman rent-seeking scam which will net the concessionaire RM30 million profit a year or RM 450 million for the 15-year concession in introducing a new mandatory health screening scheme for commercial drivers.

Chan should also address very serious allegations against the e-Kesihatan scheme concerning integrity and conflict of interest.

As New Straits Times report “New twist in eKesihatan saga” revealed, a company that had bid for the project in February last year was rejected with the excuse that the project had already been awarded.

But Supremme Systems Sdn Bhd, whose director is a former Road Transport Department (RTD) director, only signed the contract this month, 20 months after the bid by the Primary Care Doctors' Organisation Malaysia.

The letter that PCDOM submitted to the then RTD director-general Datuk Emran Kadir on Feb 24 last year contained a detailed outline of the suggested PrimaCare system.

The system is an award-winning electronic medical record and clinic management software that can be used under the eKesihatan programme.

A follow-up letter to the Transport Ministry on March 10 this year saw a reply a month later where they were told that another company had been chosen.

PCDOM president Dr Molly Cheah Bee Li said her organisation had not only created a computer-based version of the RTD health form, but had also come up with a new form based on a similar model used in the United Kingdom.

"All this was provided free of charge for RTD use," she said, adding that the system would have been made available to all clinics free of charge as there were no licensing fees.

"The only cost would have been the cost of deployment, training, support and maintenance, which the doctors themselves would be reponsible for.

"Patients would have only had to pay RM 5, for gateway charges and processing fees, on top of whatever medical fee the clinic charged.

Chan must explain why his Ministry and the Road Transport Department rejected the PCDOM proposal requiring RM 5 as gateway charges in favour of the Supremme Systems’ e-Kesihatan imposing the exorbitant gateway charge of between RM 30 – RM 35 per person for the some one million applicants seeking renewal of commercial driving licensing a year.

(22/9/2007)