KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today told Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to tighten its procurement process, warning against potential cartel practices following the airport operator’s privatisation.

The bipartisan panel issued the caution as it tabled its report on the early assessment of the privatisation exercise in the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

The committee made eight recommendations, including that Malaysia’s airports remain under government control through majority ownership by state investment corporations, and that periodic audit reports be tabled to the Cabinet.

“MAHB must tighten its procurement and contractor vetting system with the cooperation of the MACC, CAAM and the MyCC to eradicate cartel practices by contractors that are incompetent,” PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said at a press conference in Parliament here.

“This will ensure the failure of facilities and services (roof leakages, broken toilets, passenger loading bridges) do not happen again.”

MAHB was de-listed from Bursa Malaysia and turned private in February 2025. Gateway Development Alliance (GDA), a consortium, led the privatisation when it bought the remaining shares of the company at RM11.00 per share. The entire deal was valued at RM12.3 billion.

PAC said today’s report is still based on an early assessment, and the panel conceded that it has towait before it can say MAHB’s planned development roadmap is effective.

A total of 19 proceedings were held from Feb 17 to Aug 20 last year. Among those interviewed were Finance Ministry, Transport Ministry, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), MAHB, airlines, PNB, Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia.

The committee said it a conducted a surprise visit to Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1 recently and observed some physical improvements on the ground, although it still noted recurring failures in airport infrastructure and operational systems.

This included a strong worded note put out on the aerotrain’s constant service disruption, which PAC said occurred even after the project completion and resumption of operations in July last year.

The panel said the recurring break-downs and failures reflected long-standing weaknesses in maintenance, refurbishment and capital investment.