MACC must look into RM700mil Spanco deal, says MP

Taiping MP Wong Kah Woh wants to know why such a big contract was cancelled so abruptly.

(FMT) – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must investigate the abrupt termination of a government car fleet deal with a company, and later replaced by another company, costing the taxpayers an extra RM700 million.

Taiping MP Wong Kah Woh said many questions about the deal need answering, especially why the original company awarded the project was dropped.

Wong’s comments come after Berjaya Group founder Vincent Tan (picture) said yesterday his company has sued the government and Spanco Sdn Bhd over a concession to supply fleet vehicles.

Tan alleges a Berjaya-Naza joint-venture originally clinched the deal but was arbitrarily replaced by Spanco in 2020, at an additional cost of RM700 million to the taxpayers.

In a statement today, Wong, the former public accounts committee chairman, said Tan’s claim was serious and indicated non-compliance by the government of the day.

“MACC should investigate this urgently,” he said, adding that a few important points need answers, including why the letter of intent was cancelled.

“Who was the tender board chairman at that time?

“Why was the 2019 decision by the government tender board not complied with?

“What is the justification by Muhyiddin (former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin) in giving Spanco the contract, which is said to cost an extra RM700 million?” he said.

At a press conference yesterday, Tan claimed his consortium had received a letter of intent from the government, but three months after Muhyiddin became the prime minister, he was notified that the deal had been terminated.

He also alleged the tender reverted to Spanco, despite the Berjaya-Naza bid being RM700 million cheaper than Spanco’s offer.

In 2018, the government had called on companies to apply for the contract to supply, maintain and manage its fleet of official vehicles for the next 15 years.

Berjaya and Naza formed a consortium to bid for the contract that reportedly involved some 12,500 vehicles worth an estimated RM300 million annually, from the fifth year of the contract onward.

Aside from Berjaya-Naza, several other companies bid for the contract: Sime Darby Bhd, DRB-HICOM Bhd, Samling Group, Comos, Go Auto, as well as Spanco, which had held the concession since 1994.