Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua has called for an independent audit team to investigate the processes and practices in the national rail operator, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad.

NONE “The government has to set up, not something that is manned by themselves, but an independent audit team, like the ones by renowned audit companies,” he said.

Pua said that the government should also follow similar procedures as when former transport minister Ong Tee Keat appointed an audit team from PricewaterhouseCooper advisory services to look into the Port Klang Free Zone.

“It is timely for the cabinet to look into KTMB,” he said, adding that the newly-set up Land Public Transport Commission is powerless to initiate a probe into scandal.

“They don’t have the legal capacity to do anything at the moment. Their operations now are just informal,” said the parliamentarian, who is also the DAP publicity secretary.

Repeat offenders

Using the example of the most recent case in which the tender for the revamp of the entire ticketing system in the 56 KTM Komuter stations, came under hostile scrutiny, Pua said that KTMB has been mired in irregularities for a number of years.

public transportation 260706 ktm komuter “It is not the first time that KTMB has signed something questionable. They are repeat offenders and something is seriously wrong.

“It’s not just the multiple vendors with the ticketing system but it’s also the buying of the diesel trains and the second-hand trains from China . Also the latest Auditor-General’s Report says they sold land that does not belong to them.

“There are some scary problems in there and it is obviously still not rooted out,” he said.

He also said it would take strong leadership and political will to overhaul the entire KTMB.

Offices raided twice

Malaysiakini had on Monday reported a RM100 million KTMB contract went to an underqualified company that had also bid higher than its competitors.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had raided the KTMB offices twice over the case, seizing key documents pertaining to the tender process.

Plagued by bad debts and mismanagement, KTMB had racked up RM1.45 billion in debt up to 2008 with hardly any means of paying for it.

According to the 2009 Auditor-General's Report, KTMB has suffered net losses for three years in a row from 2006.

From 1994-2008, KTMB needed a RM760 million injection of funds from the federal government just to sustain its operation.