The auditor-general, in the 2013 audit report, is puzzled why Pahang's organising committee for the 2012 Sukma XV games could not obtain the same price for many of the same items needed to support different sports.

 

For example, the same industrial stand fan can cost RM248 if it is used for squash, but can cost RM630 if for gymnastics. A 32-inch LCD TV can cost RM1,450 if used for weightlifters but can cost RM 2,300 for taekwondo participants.

 

And the cost of a simple four-wheeled trolley to move things around can range from RM150 to RM600.

 

Why the discrepancies? 

 

"In the auditor's opinion, the extreme price differences happen because each sporting committee bought the same item from a different supplier," the report noted.

 

Up until December 2012, the Sukma committees comprising 33 members were tasked to spend RM5.07 million on 6,563  units of sporting assets and supporting equipment for 24 different sports hosted by Pahang that year.

 

It was a messy affair, the audit report said.

 

Apart from inflated prices of some equipment, the audit also found items missing, unused, poorly stored or unaccounted for.

 

After all the hoorahs and tears, when the sporting event was over, the government officers simply didn't know what to do with their new tools.

 

The Auditor-General's Office found cameras, video cameras, vacuum cleaners, LCD televisions and batons just left lying around in the organising secretariat’s office.

 

"This exposes the equipment, which are quite in demand, to the risks of being lost, theft and abuse because they can be easily taken away,"  the report warns.

 

Not surprisingly, the committee has reported some 1,211 assets worth some RM93,000 as already missing.

 

The sport with the most items missing is cycling, with 629 items gone astray. Understandably, many small items, such as whistles and stopwatches, were never seen again after the games ended.

 

The Sukma committee has made two police reports on these missing items. The police are still investigating.

 

Among the unused items are cleaning materials, sepak takraw equipment, foam mats for aquatic sports and training bars for weight lifting events. These cost a total of RM121,000.

 

Lackadaisical efforts

 

Meanwhile, in a separate audit on the Malacca Sports Council (MSC), the auditor-general found similar lackadaisical efforts in storing sporting equipment.

 

When it hosted the Sukma XIII games in 2010, Malacca spent some RM5 million on equipment.

 

When the audit team checked again in June last year, much of the equipment for gymnastics, weightlifting, boxing, wushu, silat, boating, and archery were found abandoned since 2010.

 

"They were not kept in an organised manner, were dusty and stored in the wrong places.

 

"According to Malacca sports council officers, they had no use as many sports had their own equipment. The cost of installing gymnastic equipment is high and the expertise to do it  was lacking," the audit report notes.

 

After the audit, the MSC officers promised to instal the gymnastic equipment at least, but this did not take place as of December last year.