Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua again spotted questionable listings on the government procurement website, this time an eyebrow raising RM27.5 million contract to supply women's leather shoes to the Defence Ministry.
Describing it as a "shopping spree" and "most special discovery" on the MyProcurement website, Pua said the contract was granted to Syarikat Visi Footwear Sdn Bhd. The date of the contract was not specified.Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby today, he then took a dig at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's wife Rosmah Mansor. Najib was once defence minister.
"We know that the First Lady aims to make Malaysia the 'Shoe Capital of the East', but surely a RM27.5 million purchase of ladies' footwear for civilian staff is not the way to achieve the goal," he said.
In a sarcastic Twitter post later, Pua asked: "How many Pradas is that?"
Another decimal point error?
Pua (right) also questioned whether the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs ministry had provided an updated list of contracts to the MyProcurement website. He said based on information on the MyProcurement website, the last contract issued was on June 2009.
"What was shocking was that the contract issued was to Business Information Technology Sdn Bhd for a sum of RM3.6 billion for a project to 'upgrade the security of information, communication and technology for the ministry'," he said.
Should this be another case of 'decimal point error', Pua said it would show that the government was not serious about ensuring the integrity of the data on the MyProcurement website.
"At the rate which we are going, how many more 'billion ringgit' projects are going to be 'exposed' in the portal?" he asked.
He said that the impression now was that the website was merely window dressing and not satisfying Najib's goal of eradicating rent-seeking and promoting transparency.
'Little birds' must remain vigilant
Meanwhile, Pua expressed gratitude to members of the public who had helped him analyse the content of the MyProcurement website.
He said the 'little birds' had tipped him off through email, his Facebook and Twitter page.
"I call upon all civic-minded Malaysians to continue perusing and analysing the data within the portal as and when it gets updated, to ensure that there is increased transparency in government procurement.
"Ultimately, we must work together to reduce and eliminate rent-seeking, patronage and the associated corruption deeply entrenched within the system," he added.
Since the portal was launched two weeks ago by Najib (left), Pua had highlighted several shortcomings, errors and questionable content on the website.
The first major embarrassment for Najib's website was revealed last week when Pua 'exposed' a RM6.5 billion contract to supply fresh rations to the army.
The figure was corrected to RM6.5 million a day later.
Meanwhile, Pua expressed gratitude to members of the public who had helped him analyse the content of the MyProcurement website.
He said the 'little birds' had tipped him off through email, his Facebook and Twitter page.
"I call upon all civic-minded Malaysians to continue perusing and analysing the data within the portal as and when it gets updated, to ensure that there is increased transparency in government procurement.
"Ultimately, we must work together to reduce and eliminate rent-seeking, patronage and the associated corruption deeply entrenched within the system," he added.Since the portal was launched two weeks ago by Najib (left), Pua had highlighted several shortcomings, errors and questionable content on the website.
The first major embarrassment for Najib's website was revealed last week when Pua 'exposed' a RM6.5 billion contract to supply fresh rations to the army.
The figure was corrected to RM6.5 million a day later.
courtesy of Malaysiakini
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