Sarawak DAP has raised concern about possible corruption, following what it said are huge differences in tender costs for constructing the Batang Samarahan Bridge.

 

State chief Chong Chieng Jen said today the estimated costs fluctuated between RM100-150 million, with invited tenders going up to RM200 million.

The project was finally awarded via open tender at RM93.88 million.

 

Chong was referring to a press statement issued by the Works Ministry on Wednesday which stated its Value Management Lab, in June 2011, estimated the cost for building the Batang Samarahan Bridge to be between RM100-110 million.

 

However, Chong said RM150 million was approved for the project under the invited tender process, with only a few hand-picked contractors participating.

 

All submitted bids of more than RM200 million. More importantly, Chong said, the Works Ministry did not reject the bids but instead re-evaluated the project.

 

‘Serious malpractices revealed’

 

Chong said the Works Ministry statement has exposed a plausible case of corruption at the highest level in the Works and or Finance Ministry.

 

They warrant an immediate investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), he added.

 

“Taking the statement as it is, it reveals some serious malpractices at the highest level of the Works Ministry and/or the Finance Ministry, which smacks of corruption.

 

“Reading the press statement, the first question that comes to my mind is: With an estimate of only RM100 – 110 million by the Value Management Lab of the Works Ministry for the project, why was a sum of RM150 million approved for the project with only some hand-picked contractors invited to tender for the project?” he asked in a statement.

 

Chong, who is the MP for Bandar Kuching and state assemblyperson for Kota Sentosa, said that to allocate a sum of RM150 million for the said project was a blatant disregard of the estimate of costs by the Public Works Department’s Value Management Lab. 

 

The ministries, Ching claimed, must have known that the estimated costs was only RM100-110 million, yet a sum of RM150 million was approved.

 

Had that been the case, Chong claimed the contractor chosen would stand to make a profit of about RM50 million.

 

“Who are the people approving the allocation? Are they the Ministers or high-ranking officers in the Ministry of Works or the Ministry of Finance or both? Who are these contractors?

 

‘MACC must investigate’

 

“DAP calls on the MACC to launch an immediate investigation on the following:

 

With the estimated cost of only RM100 – 110 million for the said Batang Samarahan bridge, who is the officer or the minister involved in the approval of RM150 million for the project (50% over the estimated cost)?

 

Who are the contractors specifically ‘invited’ by the ministry to submit tender via the ‘invited tender’ process?

 

What is the relationship between the minister and/or officer involved and the contractors invited to tender?

 

Is it the normal practice of the Government to approve an allocation of a sum 50% more than the estimated costs and thereafter to invite some specific contractors to tender so the contractor can make 50% profit from the project?”

 

Chong claimed that even with the 50% ‘profits’, it seemed that those contractors invited to tender for the Batang Samarahan bridge project were still not satisfied and all of them submitted the bids for more than RM200 million, wishing to make 100% profit out of the project. 

 

Had there not been pressure by the DAP, Chong pointed out that RM200 million would have been approved for the project, out of which RM100 million of public funds would have been ‘wasted’.

 

“At that critical time which is sometime in April 2014, I, as the Chairman of DAP Sarawak, tuned our eyes on the JKR tender process, created media attention and raised questions in Parliament on the JKR tender process.

 

“It was under the intense pressure from the DAP that two months later on June 20, 2014, the Ministry of Finance cancelled the ‘invited tender’ and approved the project to be carried out via open tender,” he added.

 

 “Given the clear abuse of the invited tender process and the high possibility of corruption at the highest level in the ministries, DAP also calls for the abolishment of ‘invited tender’ or ‘selected tender’ processes in all government contracts,” he said.

 

At the end of the day, he said when open tenders were called, the project was finally awarded at the price of RM93.88 million, less than 50% of the tender prices submitted by the invited contractors under the previous ‘invited tender’ process.