KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The newly formed special taskforce to study the alleged pharmaceutical monopoly for drug supplies to government hospitals will have its first meeting next week, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said today.

“I don’t want to be presumptuous on this, but we have got to iron out our own policies first. As you know, it involves very touchy issues of Bumiputera policies,” Dr Dzulkefly said, when asked if the taskforce would summon pharmaceutical concessionaires.

The taskforce is being led by Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, and is made up of the Health Ministry, the Economic Affairs Ministry, the Transport Ministry and Agriculture Ministry.

On June 13, documents mailed by a whistleblower to Dzulkefly and other parties alleged that bid-rigging of the open tender for medical supplies had taken place between 2013 and 2016 — allowing the supply to be effectively monopolised.

The documents claimed that the contracts amounting to RM3.7 billion had been controlled by six main tendering agents.

It also claimed that contracts were granted to companies close to or owned by politicians, high-ranking government officials and their families.

On June 19, local daily The Star reported that companies looking to supply medicine to the government would take turns to bid and limit competition, quoting the anonymous whistleblower who had exposed an alleged supply cartel raking in billions in commissions.

Disputing tendering agents’ claim that the practice was because the firms could not afford the guarantee letters, the whistleblower insisted the firms engaged in the behaviour to maximise their profits, said the report.

Last month, the same newspaper reported tendering agents as claiming that few firms could afford to accompany their bids with a bank guarantee for 5 per cent of the contract value.

The deposit is required as a safeguard against a firm’s failure to deliver.