Public Works Department (PWD) director-general Zaini Omar purportedly admitted during a recent meeting on two problem-plagued hospitals that his wife had travelled on a 'transfer of technology' trip to Europe.

DAP deputy chairperson Tan Seng Giaw claimed the revelation came during the meeting between PWD and Health Ministry officials with the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on May 25.

"... when we pressed them further they conceded to some irregularities such as Zaini's wife travelling on a 'transfer of technology trip' to Europe," said the PAC deputy chairperson when contacted yesterday.

However according to other members of the PAC, Zaini had said that he had paid for his wife's trip.

The meeting was held to discuss the defects and outstanding work at the RM500 million Temerloh Hospital in Pahang as well as the state of repairs at the fungal-infected Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Baru.

Tan, who is the Kepong parliamentarian, claimed that the wife of the Temerloh Hospital's project director was also in the delegation. The others were two PWD engineers and an architect.

The veteran politician questioned the logic of the wives' presence when neither have any knowledge of the intricacies related to the projects.

"The trip cost RM300,000 of public funds. They travelled to London, Venice, Milan and Rome. We want to know how the 'technology transfer' was done.

"There was a visit to a river ambulance and floating hospital. How will this benefit Temerloh (Hospital)?" he asked.

However, Zaini could not be reached for comment.

'Arrogant and cocky'

As for the meeting, Tan lambasted the PWD and Ministry representatives for their 'arrogance and cockiness'.

He said the representatives, including Zaini ( photo ) had 'no answers' to the queries from the PAC members, including its chairperson Sharir Abdul Samad (Barisan Nasional) and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Parti Keadilan Rakyat).

"We told them to submit a report to us on the cause and solution of the fungus infection and on the specifications, list of defects and outstanding work at the Temerloh Hospital in relation to the contract and relevant documents pertaining to it.

"They came into the meeting unprepared and were very arrogant and cocky when we asked them to explain things. They did not even have a list of what the defects and outstanding works were," he said.

Although he did not specify a deadline, Tan said it better be handed soon and cautioned that copies of the relevant contracts and documents must not be doctored.

Meanwhile, the DAP leader said he was keen on pushing for more checks and balances on government departments by having commissions - similar to the Royal Police Commission - for each department.

"Various government departments have had a good and free hand in its dealings over the years. It is no wonder that they came into the meeting fully confident of getting away with things," he added.

The ' state of the art ' Temerloh Hospital was put under the microscope following allegations that it was not safe to operate as necessary security features were overlooked when it was awarded the Certificate of Practical Completion (CPC).

As for the fungal-infected hospital in Johor, the PAC wanted to know if the RM14 million spent on its clean-up work was justified and if there has been proper investigations into what caused the infection and whether it will reoccur.

Tan expects these questions, which went unanswered at the meeting, to be addressed in the report.

The 740-bed hospital, costing RM557.8 million, was closed on Sept 25 last year after it was hit by a major fungal infection, just two months after it started operations.