Friday June 24, 2011

Selangor MCA questions tendering process for 44 projects in state

By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ
jaya@thestar.com.my

THE Selangor government’s tendering process of 44 projects last year have come into question.

Selangor MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Theng Book said the tenders amounting to RM143mil were for infrastructure projects and road-upgrading work, with the highest RM8.2mil was for building an integrated religious school in Saujana Utama.

The list obtained by the department only had 44 projects, but they believed there were more.

He said there were no advertisements in any media for the projects that were given out if those were open tenders.

“Are they closed tenders then? We want to know who are the people with successful tenders.

“We also want to tell the state government that whatever mismanagement they accused the Barisan Nasional government of before, the Pakatan Rakyat government is worse,” he said.

He added that when the Selangor government took over three years ago, it emphasised on each tender committee having a member from a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

“We’d like to know which is the NGO in the state’s tender board. The state government should be accountable and responsible,” he said.

Also present at the press conference were deputy chairman Kelvin Chong, legal adviser Datuk C.K. Lim and Taman Lee Yan Lian MCA (PJS branch) deputy chairman Wong Fong Leng.

Speaking from 10 years of experience as a Petaling Jaya city councillor, Lim said only the mayor or council president had the power to approve projects below RM20,000, and those were usually emergency cases.

“Even then, all the contractors will be listed and given projects according to order and any project exceeding RM20,000 will be called for a tender, in which case the specifications would be advertised in the newpaper.

“The tender board members will have to decide on that basis. That’s what we call as an open tender,” he said.