PM: Pay as Contracted

PM wants government to make prompt payment for services and goods

Monday October 2, 2006

The Star Online

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants Ministries, departments and agencies to make payment for services and goods provided to them without delay.

The Prime Minister has also ordered the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and the Implementation and Co-ordination Unit (ICU) to issue reminders to the ministries and departments to make the payment as soon as possible.

“I want payments for goods and services provided to the Government be paid expeditiously. Do not wait any longer.

"If the goods had already been supplied and services has been provided to us, then there is no reason to delay payment.

“A contract is a form of promise and if the other party has carried out their part of the deal, then we should carry out ours, which is to pay them for their services,” he told staff of the Prime Minister’s Department at its monthly gathering here on Monday.

The Prime Minister said in Islam, it was important that responsibility be carried out and promises be kept, adding that fulfilling one’s part of the contract was viewed seriously by the religion.

He said delay in payments would not benefit the Government which did not want unpaid bills to pile up, making payment a problem.

“If we do not pay, a lot of people will suffer.

"Workers will not get paid, banks will not be paid for the loans issued and suppliers could not supply construction materials because of they get paid late.

“This will cause anger and dissatisfaction against the Government.

"Therefore, I want to remind ministries, department and agencies to expedite payments and I want the central agencies to remind them on this,” he said.

Cakap boleh serupa bikin kah?

Pay to Contractors, Got Money ah?

Pak Lah tells all government bodies to pay up to all contractors.

Got money ah? Pay, pay, where's the money...

The contractors are still waiting until now...

UM V-C Rafiah Salim asked: When is the money coming?

She is not the only one asking. Go to JKR, DID, District Offices, City Hall, Health Ministry, Education Ministry and find out whether the contractors had been paid. Ask the engineers.

See, this is an abandoned ward project at University Hospital, Selangor. The project lies between University Malaya Medical Centre’s (UMMC) Menara Timur and the surau. The Obstetric Paediatric Ward project, which started in 2002, has been abandoned since 2003. The project was supposed to provide the paediatric department with a block containing nine floors and three basement floors while the obstetric department was to get a block with four floors and three basement floors (according to the notice board for the project). The new ward was aimed at providing enough beds for patients, as there is presently an insufficient number of beds to meet demand.

Yet the project has been left alone after the base structure was completed. Datuk Rafiah Salim said the project was tendered with officials from both the Finance Ministry and the Works Ministry present with all the proper paperwork done.

“We started the project in good faith and expected the rest of the money to come because approval had been given under the 8th Malaysia Plan,” said Rafiah.

Rafiah said the funds were under the Finance Ministry's control and money had been allocated for the project to continue. But where is the money?

“It’s a lot of money, that’s why there’s a lot of interest in this project.

Independent engineer E.F. Lee said the practice of building the first part of a project was both foolish and unheard of in the construction industry. “In the industry, when you start a project, you want to finish it because a few years later, the technologies and needs may have changed and the base structure would have been outdated,” said Lee.

“Starting a project when you only have partial funds, while not illegal, is very bad planning.”

Lee said although he had not inspected the site up close, from his observation the construction looked abandoned without any mitigation or protection to the completed structures.

“By leaving it unprotected, corrosion will set in and the bars will lose strength that is critical to reinforce the concrete structure,” Lee said.

UMMC director Prof Dr Ikram Shah Ismail and UMMC associate professor and consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Prof Dr Jamiyah Hassan further clarified the situation. “The building was initiated under the 7th Malaysia Plan, with the building designed to be done in two phases because there was not enough funds in the 7th Malaysia Plan. Thus, funding for the project had to be spilled over to the 8th Malaysia Plan,” said Dr Jamiyah.

“Tender for the base structure was closed on Aug 7, 2002, and the project was undertaken and completed by the first construction company while we waited for the next part of the funding from the Finance Ministry.”

On April 22, 2004, the Finance Ministry officially told UMMC that there were not enough funds to finance the project due to the economic downturn and asked UMMC to resubmit applications for funds in the 9th Malaysia Plan instead.

Pak Lah, got money to complete this project ah?

Cakap boleh serupa bikin kah???