Our System - Direct Negotiation Project

The Prime Minister made a statement in Parliament that the government had awarded total of RM63 billion or 38% of development projects to several parties through a process of direct negotiation. He proudly says that this is their system. He also said that the government had also awarded projects to international foreign company. He emphasized that allegations of corruption on awarding projects is mere perceptions.

Before the people throw out their support to UMNO led government, it is important for the Prime Minister, who is the President of UMNO to wake up from his sleep. The system which he adopts is already out of place and the root cause of its downfall, causing a lot of discontentment not only to UMNO supporters, the government officials but also to the people at large. The Prime Minster must realize that this system only benefits and enrich a few selected peoples; this NOT a good and sound system.

38% or RM63 billion is a lot of money. It would be interesting if the government can list down the projects awarded and who had been awarded with the projects. In one case a project which originally cost not more than RM5 million was directly awarded at a price three times the original cost. Is this a good system? We believed that RM63 billion, if properly awarded in a fair system, could have doubled the number of projects completed.

Awarding projects to international company is healthy on conditions that the local company should be given the majority control and elements of transfer of technology are adhered to as one of the mandatory conditions. Malaysia now has all the best people with high technical knowledge. There's no excuse not to employ Malaysians in key technical positions. But if awarding projects mainly to acquire commissions, then forever we are going to be dependent on foreign contractors to do jobs which will be paid by money of the rakyat.

The Prime Minister says that the current system is still good. System is system. It is not the Quran, which cannot be change. If the system caused many mishaps and by implementing it will cause more negative perceptions and did not bring good to the people and country, then the best action is to discard the system all together; it can cause more frustration and the little support that the government still enjoys will slowly diminished. Time is really running for us to be patient.