PUTRAJAYA, July 16 — A special investigative committee on procurement, governance and finance will examine dubious government procurement and governance issues from the previous administration in order to make recommendations to the Prime Minister’s Office as needed, said Tan Sri Ambrin Buang.
The former auditor general who will chair the committee explained that it will not overlap with the National Audit Department as well as other task forces already formed by the new government.
He also stressed that his committee was not out to target any specific personality from the previous government.
“The committee will not only be involved in recommending cases to be investigated, but we will also give suggestions on improvements to be made on government procurement procedures to reduce leakages.
“We are not involved with witches,” he told the media at a press conference when asked whether they were on a witch hunt.
Ambrin said the committee will investigate questionable deals based on requests made and will put forth the suggestions whether enforcement agencies should take further action on certain cases.
He said the committee had today began looking into cases from the defence ministry, as requested by its minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, but did not elaborate further on details.
The ministry is alleged to have been involved in dodgy deals, including the €1.2 billion (RM5.68 billion) Scorpene submarines from France in 2002, the privatisation of some 40,000 hectares of land to three persons without an open tender, and the disappearance of two air force fighter jet spare engines from the Sungai Besi airbase in 2008.
Ambrin said the information gathered by his committee would help ease the investigation process for enforcement agencies, such as the police and Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission, in conducting their probes.
“Before the enforcement agencies launch their investigations, we will put together the facts based on our findings. Sometimes when people lodge a report, it can merely be an allegation therefore we will look into it and trace back what has happened.
“There is no limit as to how far back we will go. If the deal was made 12 years ago, then we will go 12 years back and dig up everything that has happened since then, such as looking into past media coverages and inquiries made,” he said.
Ambrin said not all ministries will be investigated, unlike the National Audit Department, which has its own mandate and audit plans including looking into the financial statements of the Federal, state and local governments.
“We focus on questionable cases. If we find no discrepancies, then there is no need to investigate… we do this with an open mind,” he said.
Ambrin said the National Audit Department will play a role in assisting with the investigations by having some representatives within the committee’s secretariat, including former audit director Datin Paduka Ong Swee Leng.
When asked whether the committee will call up any former ministers to help with the probes, Ambrin said the committee will call up any individuals and said, “anyone… be it former minister, minister, or anybody.”
On the report prepared by his committee to be made public, Ambrin said this was a special team formed by the Cabinet, which is not required to disclose its findings unlike the Auditor-General report.
Ambrin will lead the team, which was formed by the Cabinet on May 30, that includes former Malaysian Institute of Accountant president Tan Sri Abdul Samad Alias, former chief secretary of Rural and Regional Development ministry Datuk Dr Mohd Tap Salleh, Department of Integrity and Governance director-general Datuk Dr Anis Yusal Yusoff, and former advocate and solicitor Zulqarnain Lukman.
Rosli Yaakub from the Finance Ministry will lead the secretariat for the committee.
