The cabinet has yet to decide on a date for a briefing by Works Minister S Samy Vellu for members of Parliament, to respond to queries on several serious infrastructure breakdowns in recent years, a minister said today.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz told malaysiakini that the cabinet meeting today did not discuss the issue and that "no date has been set (for the briefing)".

Nazri, who oversees parliamentary affairs, was asked to comment on Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's instruction to Samy last month to clarify issues affecting his ministry.

Pressure had been mounting on Samy to quit his post following a list of infrastructural mishaps , the most recent of which were the Middle Ring Road II scandal and mudslide at Gua Tempurung, Perak, along the North-South expressway on Oct 11.

Several Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers were among those who had asked him to resign or face being sacked .

Seeking clarification, Najib was quoted as saying: "I believe the works minister can throw light on the matters raised by members of the House. Since they were raised in Parliament, it is only proper that the reply be made in Parliament."

Backbenchers Club chairperson Shahrir Samad could not be reached for comment today.

Letter to Samy

Parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said he has written to Samy to ask for a full list of failed infrastructure development projects, including those involving Project Management Consultants (PMC).

Samy had blamed the PMC consortium, which is under the jurisdiction of the finance ministry, for the troubled projects.

He claimed that the traditional role, responsibilities and powers of the Public Works Department to monitor and supervise government infrastructure development projects had been hijacked and usurped by the PMC.

Lim wanted to know which projects under the Eighth Malaysia Plan were involved "in accordance with the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance".

He said basic information is needed to correct PMC failures and expressed hope that this would be available next week.

Debate issue

Lim said that, globally, PMCs represent a new profession to ensure that development projects are completed faster, within the budget and with high quality.

"In Malaysia, it has become a byword for a new scam, a new form of cheating public funds, with projects ending up with higher cost, taking longer time and with inferior quality," he said.

He said Parliament should debate the issue immediately to hold the government to account.

Yesterday, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib had rejected Lim's bid to invoke a rarely-used Standing Order to ask a question without notice pertaining to the "long list of failed government infrastructure projects".

The current parliamentary sitting - reconvened on Monday after a month-long break for the fasting month - will adjourn on Dec 14.