PM must address 3 principal issues in the 2011 Auditor-General's report

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak must address 3 principal issues in the 2011 Auditor-General’s Report to show BN’s commitment towards transparency and accountability as well as dispel MCA’s openly mocking the reports of mismanagement has having no impact on people’s support of BN. Even former MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat attacked his successor Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today for “mocking” the Auditor-General’s Report by Chua claiming that negative reports would not affect Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support in the next general election.

Dr Chua even went to the extent of saying that if the Auditor-General’s Report had any effect, the BN government would fall every year the report was published. The first issue revealed by the Auditor-General’s Report relates to several massive government contracts and projects that were directly negotiated, affecting the level of trust in government.

The most glaring example was the directly-negotiated RM 12.49 billion Ipoh-Padang Besar double-tracking project that was delayed twice and has incurred an additional RM3.6 billion in costs. Other examples include 1,000 brochure racks worth RM1.95 million for Visit Malaysia Year 2007 bought through direct negotiation by the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board without the Finance Ministry’s approval, and the five billboards worth RM3.64 million that it put up in Indonesia via direct negotiation that are being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Military family quarters built by the Defence Ministry saw costs nearly double to RM3.2 billion with defects such as collapsed ceilings and leaking sewer pipes. The report found that the majority of the military quarters projects audited were awarded by direct negotiation and that the government waived penalties worth RM 87.12 million for failure to meet contractual obligations.

The latest revelation by the Auditor-General’s Report is in Sarawak where a state-owned company, Sarawak Coal Resources Sdn Bhd awarded contracts for the extraction and transportation of coal ore in Mukah for RM923.03 million to four firms through direct negotiations. No wonder Sarawak Coal Resources Sdn Bhd is recording losses. If open competitive tenders were implemented, all the companies would be likely making profits.

Even Transparency-International Malaysia president Datuk Paul Low said the direct negotiation way of awarding contracts could potentially give rise to problems such as corruption and lack of competition.

The second issue relates to the massive write-off of government loans given to Perwaja Terengganu Sdn Bhd that were unpaid over the last 14-17 years amounting RM 1,626 million. The 2011 Auditor-General’s Report had highlighted that 42 loans given out by the Federal government to companies had loan arrears between 1 to 17 years amounting to a huge sum of RM 3,328 million, an increase of 18.7% compared to RM 2,805 million in 2010.

No action was taken by the Federal government to recover these loan arrears apart from writing off Perwaja’s RM 1,626 million loans over a period of 16 years from 2011 to 2027. Najib must explain the rationale for such a huge write-off when Perwaja is now listed on Bursa Malaysia and is making profits. Writing off huge loans for one company like Perwaja gives a negative impression that cronies get special treatment at the expense of 28 million Malaysians. Again why should cronies have their loans written off but not ordinary Malaysians?

The third issue the Prime Minister must address relates to the exemption of fees for license to contravene given to Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd(IWK) amounting to RM 1,371 million. IWK had applied to the Department of Environment for 3,290 licenses to contravene from 2008-2011 to violate environmental standards in disposal of toxic wastes. Upon approval the license fees required to be paid by IWK amounted to RM1,554 million as at end 2011. However Cabinet gave an exemption of RM 1,371 millon on 21.5.2010, resulting in IWK only needing to pay the remainder RM183 million. Why did Cabinet give IWK this huge exemption at the expense of the environment and without any benefit to Malaysians.

Unless these 3 issues are addressed, BN has clearly adopted Chua Soi Lek’s attitude of ignoring the negative reports in the 2011 Auditor-General’s Report in the belief that there will be no impact on the people’s support. If BN refuses to justify the improprieties and malpractices highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report, then the people has act to ensure that it is respected instead of being mocked at. Only a change of government can uphold integrity, accountability and transparency in governance and the Auditor-General’s Report.

Lim Guan Eng DAP Secretary General & MP for Bagan