Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was asked to explain why only eight out of 25 ministries achieved the 100 percent key performance indicator (KPI) target under the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment (PEB) programme last year.

In a statement today, Malay rights group Perkasa vice-president Ruhanie Ahmad also asked Najib to disclose the reasons why 68 percent of the ministries had failed to reach the target.

"He should explained the specific aspects of KPIs which other ministries failed to achieve and the efforts to overcome them in 2017," he said.

Yesterday, Najib said eight ministries achieved 100 percent KPI target while 23 ministries had reached at least 90 percent KPI target set last year.

They eight ministries that achieved 100 percent KPI target are the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry; Home Ministry; Foreign Ministry; Youth and Sports Ministry; Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry; Rural and Regional Development Ministry; Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry; and Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

The Prime Minister's Department, Finance Ministry, Education Ministry, Works Ministry, Higher Education Ministry, International Trade and Industry Ministry were among the ministries that failed to achieved the 100 percent KPI target.

Najib said the main achievements included the awarding of 63.8 percent of the estimated value of annual works to bumiputera contractors in the construction of major highways such as the West Coast Expressway (WCE), the Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway 2 (DUKE2), the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE), and Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Expressway (SUKE).

Other contracts named by him that were awarded to bumiputera companies, included the RM1.48 billion KL118 Tower; the increased involvement of bumiputera companies in the Vendor Development Programme; increased bumiputera percentage in house ownership, and cumulatively, the total turnover of bumiputera cooperatives of RM31 billion which saw an increase of RM2.44 billion from last year.

Najib had announced the KPI results after chairing a Bumiputera Economic Council (MEB) meeting yesterday in Putrajaya.

Ruhanie proposed that the government should incorporate prudent administration and measures to prevent misappropriation, corruption, and abuse of power into their KPIs.

"This is because corruption and violations of prudent administration are widespread in the public sector," he noted.

"As such, the prime minister must include prudent administration and anti-corruption as the most important elements in the KPIs this year," he added.

"Perkasa wants to know what is the system used in awarding these projects and if the process is conducted in a transparent manner," he quesioned.

On the KL118 Tower construction contracts given to bumiputera companies, Ruhanie urged Najib, who is also finance minister, to list out the beneficiary companies.

He also questioned if Najib had instructed the ministries involved in developing Bandar Malaysia and East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) to prepare their respective KPIs in the context of the Bumiputera Empowerment Programme.

It was reported that the ECRL contract had been awarded to China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), while Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group had expressed interest in developing Bandar Malaysia, owned by TRX City Sdn Bhd under the ambit of the Finance Ministry.