Saturday, July 17, 2004

Open Tender with Special Award of Projects

SAYING IS BELIEVING?




On 14th. January 2004, Pak Lah said, "The majority of Government contracts will be decided through open tender in line with on-going efforts to increase transparency, lower the cost of doing business and reduce the possibility of corruption."

The Prime Minister said only “Special Cases” would be dealth through direct negotiations. However he did not disclose the criteria for these “Special Cases”.

On 9th. June 2004, Second Finance Minister told the Dewan Rakyat that, " Bumiputera contractors can still get contracts through special tenders as not all are tendered through the open system,”

According to Nor Yakcop, this showed that the interests of Bumiputera contractors had not been overlooked.

1.) Open tender in line with on-going efforts to increase transparency, lower the cost of doing business and reduce the possibility of corruption?????

2.) Bumiputera contractors can still get contracts through special tenders in order that the interests of Bumiputera contractors will not been overlooked???

The two just don't gist if put together. Do they know what they are talking about? Or, is Nor Yakcop playing music to the ears of UMNO politicians?

Ting Pek King was just awarded a contract for $620 million to expand the Kuching Airport. Tan Sri Rozali Ismail of Puncak Niaga and Syarikat bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (SYABAS) will be getting the water privatization project worth multi billions ringgit and the taxpayers will have to bear with the propose increase in water tariff of about 45% as proposed by SYABAS.

"Is this called lowering the cost of business by way of passing the increased cost to consumers?"

Perwaja Steel problems of multi billion ringgit losses, billions of loses during Tan Sri Eric Chia's tenure and more loses uncovered after Maju Holding had taken over; all of these are to be absorbed by the tax payers - who is responsible to make good????? Efficiency, High Performance, Clean Govt., Cekap, Bersih dan Amanah, Cermelang, Gemilang dan Terbilang - the motto of our system???????

Oh, Ho, Ho, Ho, Santa Claus Management!

Friday, July 16, 2004

Rural Road Projects - No need for PMC



The Government will do away with rural road project consultants and use the allocation set aside for consultant fees to build more roads, Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Aziz Samsuddin said. He said the decision to stop the appointment of consultants was made this year and the RM30mil in consultant fees saved would be used to build 320km of rural roads. “I don’t see the need to have consultants to build rural roads as the project is rather simple and straight forward, not like building highways or multi-tiered roads,” he said.

Aziz said the Public Works Department had taken over the jurisdiction of rural road construction from the district office. He said the ministry had proposed that fresh engineering graduates and diploma holders be appointed as project supervisors. “This will give our graduates the opportunity to be employed and gain experience. It is also more cost effective,” he added.

"Consultant, kena cari makanan lain, cara lain, hidup lain."

Don't worry about this news and don't get upset. You can be sure that politicians said one thing and do another. Remember what Pak Lah said earlier about the open tender for all projects? Well, months later, Second Finance Minister says, there will still be negotiated tenders. A clear sign we received recently is the Kuching airport project was just awarded to Ting Pek King few weeks ago. This is the Malaysia Boleh - the cakap bohong boleh! Cakap sia sia sahaja - untuk syok-syok sahaja.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Kuching Airport Awarded to Ting Pek King




TING PEK KING FINALLY GETS IT!

It's confirmed. Ting Pek King gets the Airport Extension Project.

We have waited so long to hear this piece of news. Before the news was announced, I was in Kuching last week and I saw earthmoving machines at work. It amaze me that it took the Government 2 weeks after the work had started to make this announcement. To Sarawakians, it's no surprise as we all expected it - we were damned sure Ting Pek King will win.

The irony is that the Government raised 8.5billion in the name of priority projects such as hospital management, schools and road projects, including reserving some of these money for payment to existing contractors who had not been paid for many months. Now, 620 million will be used for the Kuching airport project and probably, SCOMI may be the JV partner or sub-contracor.

Let's celebrate with Ting PK! Cheerio & Malaysia Boleh!