Selangor to reveal details of direct tenders

(The Malaysian Insider) — Selangor will disclose details of all directly negotiated contracts from 2006 to 2010 in response to Raja Petra Kamarudin’s claim that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administration has dished out over RM250 million without open tenders.

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (picture) said the practice was “not extraordinary as Pahang, Malacca (and) the federal government also like negotiated tenders,” referring to administrations controlled by Barisan Nasional (BN).

“I will display contracts without open tender from 2006 to 2010 at the state assembly so it can be debated. We will be ready to answer. Then RPK can examine if the data is the same,” the mentri besar said, using the controversial blogger’s nickname.

The Malaysia Today editor had written on Monday that Selangor awarded RM79 million, RM27 million and RM143 million in negotiated contracts in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively.

The Selangor prince pointed out that the PKR-led government had done so despite Khalid announcing “that Selangor is also going to end the practice of negotiated contracts, just like Penang.”

“I do not have the figures for last year but looking at the trend we can safely assume it was in the region of RM100 million,” he wrote.

But Khalid said today the state government had acted with the knowledge of the state financial officer in accordance to guidelines set by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The Bandar Tun Razak MP pointed out that in cases such as landslides, “you need to get a consultant and can’t have an open tender process” so Selangor paid the prices quoted by infrastructure firm Ikram.

“The important thing is transparency and value-for-money,” he said.

However, Khalid said he could not set a date to disclose the information as he would have to follow procedures under the Official Secrets Act.