KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 ― Despite its corruption taint, the Youth and Sports Ministry continued the practice of awarding contracts directly for the past two years instead of through open tenders, its Deputy Minister Steven Sim disclosed today.

He said that RM357.8 million worth of non-open tender contracts were dished out between 2016 and 2018, adding that it was equivalent to 46 per cent of all contracts awarded by the ministry during the same period.

He added that his ministry needs a “complete overhaul” after a majority of its 2017 contracts were awarded via direct tender after an anti-corruption initiative there was scrapped last May.

“The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission has asked that the Corruption Risk Management is implemented again.

“This is the Ministry's commitment to ensure any wrongdoing is identified and contained at an early stage,” Sim told reporters in Parliament.

A former senior official form the Ministry, Otman Arshad, was arrested in 2016 and charged with submitting false claims totalling over RM 38 million.

“The ministry is one of those that gets the lowest allocation among all ministries. But the wastages mean that even the limited funds are not being maximised,” Sim said.