Declaring Ali Baba Contractors

The Finance Ministry has now made it compulsory for Bumiputra contractors awarded government contracts to sign an official declaration not to sell the project or subcontract the works to others.

Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Izzuddin Dali said their contracts and registration would be terminated if they flout the rule.

Why don't the treasury and ministry start the process now? They can begin the survey from all the DB/T contracts awarded by JKR and the Ministry of Defence. Every DB/T contractors are registered Bumiputera PKK class A contractors and each and every project, so far in the history of JKR, has been subcontracted to others. Even my good friend Pak Adib did subcontract some of the works to Others (non-Bumi). Abu Sahid of Maju Holding subcontracted the Dedicated Highway to Leighton of Australia who in turn subcontracted the works to Chinese subcontractors. Ahmad Zaki Resources subcontracted their projects along Jalan Kuching-Kepong-Jln Segambut to non-Bumis. MMC subcontracted most, if not all their works to Others (mostly non-Bumis). Perangsang, a state-govt incorporated subcontracted the Matrade project to Lee Fook Sang, Ranhill subcontracted all their works to non-Bumis, in fact, all Bumiputera contrators and suppliers subcontract their works to Others. The Secretary-general used the word: "to Others". That's interesting. The project to procure the Sukhois was awarded to a Bumiputera contractor and was subcontracted to others too. That's how the undertable was paid. If not, the Muslim contractor will have to undertake the undertable transaction which is sinful and against Islam.

It will be interesting to see how the ministry is going to monitor this instruction and declaration. The fact remains that it is impossible for Bumiputera contrators not to subcontract the Works to Others. Even for a Chinese or Mat Salleh organization, they too had to subcontract to others because it is about risk transfer, and it is about ensuring that the right expertise is procured to do a competent job and to ensure the success of the project. No organization is able to do all the works themselves or to engage all the experts and skill workers and professionals as employees. This is the business philosophy called Outsourcing - acquiring skills and expertise from outside the organization to mitigate or transfer the risks and to ensure profitability and growth.

In the world of competitive trade and commerce, no one single race or creed can survive on its own without the service of the others. Even the Saudis, the UAE, Iran, Indonesia, and all other Muslim countries awarded contracts to Others or subcontract projects to Others. Pak Lah should visit the projects at Dubai and Qatar which are all Bumiputera projects and all of which are subcontracted to Others.

I will be excited to see how the ministry will monitor and control the implementation of this instruction and when and what chaos will erupt and destroy the nation's economy. It's tsunamic and it's against the rule of law including Islamic law to issue such an instruction and "Surat Sumpah" as it goes against the principles of justice and good government.

Stupid government and stupid servants!

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???