Open-tender system for Selangor soon

The Selangor government will be introducing an open-tender system for all government procurements soon in a bid to improve transparency and accountability.

Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim ( right ) told the state legislative assembly today that his government said amendments to the procurement procedures had already been made in March.

“It will take effect in the near future,” he said during the questions session.

However, Khalid said the state government will still have to recognise Class-F classification for contractors, which is specifically for bumiputeras.

 

"The constitution states that state governments must follow all Finance Ministry procedures. This includes contractor classifications,” he said.

During the debate on the royal address later, the controversy surrounding the federal government contract with Israeli-linked Apco Worldwide was raised by Azmin Ali (PKR-Bukit Antarabangsa), causing a minor uproar in the House.

At one point, Azmin called Umno an “Israeli agent” because the federal government had engaged a public relations firm which has Zionist-regime linked individuals as its board of directors.

Incensed BN assemblypersons repeatedly interjected and challenged Azmin to repeat his allegations outside of chambers.

Kok gets hot

Meanwhile, state exco in charge of trade and industry Teresa Kok was also involved in a heated exchange during the questions session.

Kok (left ) had told the House that most investments into the state were channeled through federal agencies such as the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) and Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida).

 

This prompted Subahan Kamal (Umno-Taman Templer) to asked if this was proof that the BN federal government was still aiding Selangor despite losing the state to Pakatan Rakyat.

To this, Kok replied: “Mida and Matrade are agencies who will co-operate with the government of the day. We should not think that all government agencies are Umno divisions.”