PETALING JAYA, July 18 -- Private initiaves do not justify direct negotiations for a public project, the DAP's Tony Pua said today as he urged Putrajaya to reopen a tender for the 100km intercity rail project linking Iskandar Malaysia and Singapore.
The opposition lawmaker welcomed Metropolitan Commuter Network (MCN), a unit of Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd (Masteel)'s response to clear the doubt cast over its RM1 billion award to build and run the railway system, noting that the company's admission that “experience in complex mechanical and electrical hardware and automation” is sufficient should prompt the federal government to reopen bidding to get the best value from other firms.
"The Federal Government, in this case represented by Public-Private Partnership Agency (UKAS) in the Prime Minister’s Department, must still place emphasis on transparency and accountability in the award of any contracts," the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said.
"And the best mechanism to ensure that the interest of the public are fully protected especially in projects such as this, is via open, transparent and competitive tenders," he added in his statement.
Pua stressed that it was the right of any private company to initiate bids for any public contract, but said it was the government's duty to ensure that only the best company won the deal, which he insisted could only be competitive by opening up it up for tender.
Based on the company's reply to his previous question this week that “trains are relatively simple mechanical systems”, the DAP parliamentarian said he was confident there were other companies up to mark should an open tender be called, proving little justification for a direct negotiation.
He further challenged the government to explain its award to a company that had admitted its experience lay in making steel and not building railways, noting that the expensive project involved a 20-year RM700 million soft loan to the concessionaire.
"The question that needs to be asked to the Prime Minister’s Department is, if the Government has to fund 70 per cent of the project, why bother privatising it in the first place to a 37-year concession?' he asked.
The DAP national publicity chief called on the government to halt direct negotiations immediately, noting that MCN has also clarified it has yet to get the necessary approvals from the various ministries nor been granted full approval to undertake the project.
