17 Sept 2019

Press statement by MCA Vice President Datuk Tan Teik Cheng


Online media abuzz with letters approving RM450mil tender via direct nego - Dr M & Guan Eng must clarify authenticity of letters



Viral on online news portals  are news about the Minister of Finance granting approval to PDM Builders Sdn Bhd for a RM450million project in Kelantan via direct negotiation. Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng must clarify or dispel the authenticity of such letters.

Malaysia Gazzette has published two letters, purportedly one with a handwritten note by the premier that the project has been granted to PDM Builders Sdn Bhd, and another, dated 26 July 2019, written on the letterhead of the Finance Ministry and signed by Datuk Zamzuri Abdul Aziz from the Government Procurement Department on behalf of the Secretary-General of Treasury stating that the Finance Minister has agreed that PDM Builders be appointed via direct negotiation for the said project.

According to Malaysia Gazette, Dr Mahathir had hand written in Bahasa Malaysia that “YB Minister of Finance, the project has been granted to PDM Builders Sdn Bhd. If they are able to reduce the cost, there is no need for new tender,” and thus, the contract would be directly handed to PDM Builders.

Therefore, it is incumbent for both Dr Mahathir and Guan Eng to clarify whether such letters are authentic or not. If indeed they are genuine, this proves that both of them who initially claimed they had no knowledge of the award, are lying.  If the letters are fake, they the reputation of the Prime Minister’s Office and Finance Ministry have been tarnished. They should immediately lodge a police report each to salvage their organisation’s image.

Regardless of the truth, responses from Dr Mahathir and Guan Eng indicate a gross lack of transparency and integrity, sloppy review process in granting approvals for major projects, vague details, high expenditure to be incurred and no sense of responsibility to the rakyat.

According to Guan Eng, since the relevant project bidding had bypassed the standard SOP and procurement procedures, it must be directly investigated by MACC to restore the truth to the matter.

The Pakatan Harapan government always self declares that it implements open tenders for all government projects. However, this contract valued at RM450  million is a u-turn against Promise 23 of the Manifesto Harapan as it was awarded through direct negotiation. Now that news of this project has been exposed, there are attempts to dodge responsibility. Even the Prime Minister and Finance Minister strangely seem to be ignorant of this massive project which incurs a heavy expenditure.

Datuk Tan Teik Cheng
MCA Vice President


-MCA online-