Transparency International Malaysia Wants Details of Procurement Contracts

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) recently called on the Malaysian government to implement the key initiatives identified by PEMANDU to improve transparency and accountability, specifically to disclose details of procurement contracts.

The details of all concession contracts are of interest to all Malaysians as they involve public funds and costs to the public. TI-M has called for the disclosures of all concession contracts; the government, if it has the political will, should be able to disclose publicly all contracts either by providing for disclosure in the contracts or getting the contractors to agree to disclosure.

Since this contract seems to require public funds and Government support and the public will be paying tolls, the contract should be awarded by open tender or some other means to ensure that the contract is, at the minimum, competitively priced.

Meanwhile, the accredited chapter of Berlin based Transparency International has applauded the Selangor Government for allocating state Local Council seats to representatives of NGOs. The organisation believes that this move represents an important step in allowing the voices of the people’s representatives to be heard at the local level.

However, TI-M is concerned with the delay in naming of new local councilors. It believes that this process should be done in a transparent manner, and calls on the Selangor government to engage with and seek the views of ratepayers before naming new councilors.