HEITECH PADU CONTRACT AWARDED VIA OPEN TENDER -- ANTHONY LOKE

PUTRAJAYA, April 17 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Transport (MoT) today clarified that the awarding of the MySikap and Mainframe contract for all offices of the Road Transport Department (JPJ) to HeiTech Padu Bhd was carried out through an open tender.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said HeiTech Padu won the contract because the company offered a reasonable price of RM185.07 million and passed all evaluation stages.

“On Nov 24, 2023, the MoT procurement board convened and certified HeiTech Padu (out of the three participating companies) as making the best offer based on a reasonable and lowest price that passed all evaluation stages,” he told the media today.

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The estimated ceiling price for the project is RM207.31 million. The other bidding companies offered prices of RM186.88 million and RM199.51 million respectively.

This matter was clarified following insinuation by some parties who said the project was offered to HeiTech Padu because a director or shareholder of the company has a connection with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, namely Datuk Farhash Wafa Salvador.

Farhash is a former political secretary to the Prime Minister, but he does not have any position or capacity in the government presently.

Loke said this matter got the Prime Minister's attention at the Cabinet meeting this morning.

“According to the chronology, this tender was made on Nov 24, 2023 when the MoT procurement board certified the tender to HeiTech Padu after an open tender system was created.

“The certificate was submitted for final approval by the Ministry of Finance on Dec 4, 2023. Treasury approval was obtained on Feb 8, 2024 for a value of RM185 million (not including service tax).

“In other words, this approval was not made yesterday. This approval was already made on Feb 2, 2024 but the letter of offer (acceptance) was only issued on April 5, 2024 by JPJ to HeiTech Padu after several internal processes,” said Loke.

On April 15, 2024, HeiTech Padu announced the contract offer on Bursa Malaysia.

Loke also said Farhash only bought a 15.9 per cent stake in HeiTech Padu on March 16, 2024.

In other words, the tender decision had already been made before Farhash bought the stake in HeiTech Padu.

Loke said the Prime Minister mentioned in the meeting that after Farhash bought the stake in HeiTech Padu, no government contract has been offered to the company so far.

“The Prime Minister and the Cabinet take a serious view of the insinuations that are trying to imply that this contract was supposedly offered to HeiTech Padu because there is a connection with a person close to the Prime Minister.

“If any party is still not satisfied, it is welcome to make a complaint to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission so that a detailed investigation can be held,” said Loke.

-- BERNAMA