Kontrak LRT - Najib kata ikut peraturan, tapi tak nafi tender serah kpd. George Kent...

Jawapan perdana menteri bahawa projek sambungan LRT Ampang mengikut peraturan, tanpa menafikan pemberian tender kepada Konsortium George Kent, mengukuhkan spekulasi beliau melanggar keputusan penilaian bidaan, kata PKR.

Pengarah Strategi PKR Rafizi Ramli berkata, kenyataan Datuk Seri Najib Razak itu mengesahkan kontrak itu telah dianugerahkan kepada konsortium itu seperti disyaki banyak pihak.

"Oleh itu, saya sekali lagi mengulangi desakan bahawa Najib wajarlah menyatakan secara terbuka sama ada kontrak itu telah pun dianugerahkan kepada Konsortium George Kent, kerana itu bakal menjawab pelbagai persoalan mengenai campur tangan beliau dalam proses pemilihan kontraktor," katanya.

Najib malam tadi ketika ditanya pemberita berkata, tiada apa-apa yang luar biasa dalam penganugerahan projek kerja-kerja sambungan projek bernilai lebih RM1 bilion itu kerana semuanya menurut aturan.

Dalam kenyataannya hari ini, Rafizi juga berkata, beliau dimaklumkan sumber dalaman bahawa Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) telah mengambil pelbagai dokumen rasmi berhubung kontrak itu dari pejabat Prasarana semalam.

Kesimpulan itu juga dibuatnya ekoran Pengarah Urusan Kumpulan Prasarana Datuk Shahril Mokhtar didakwa tidak menafikan perkara itu melalui komunikasi dengannya di laman blog mikro Twitter berhubung isu itu.

Twitter yang dirujuk itu menyebut Shahril sebagai menulis: "Fizi (Rafizi), there was no such thing as 'rampas'. Just let them do their job.

(Fizi, tiada sama sekali apa yang dikatakan 'rampas'. Biar mereka buat kerja mereka.)

Malaysiakini semalam melaporkan SPRM datang ke pejabat syarikat pengangkutan nasional Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd sekoran dakwaan Rafizi terhadap campur tangan Najib dalam projek itu.

Menurut sumber, mereka tiba selepas jam 4 petang. Pegawai Prasarana bagaimanapun menafikan ia satu serbuan.

Sementara itu, Rafizi terus mendakwa, salah satu dokumen yang diambil adalah kertas rasmi yang membuktikan Prasarana memulangkan kembali bon tender kepada George Kent kerana kumpulan itu dikeluarkan dari senarai pembida berpotensi sejak awal.
 
Justeru, katanya, sebarang keputusan menganugerahkan kontrak itu kepada George Kent sudah tentu bertentangan dengan keputusan penilaian bidaan dan tatacara tender yang diterimapakai.

Rafizi juga menyeru Shahril mengesahkan dakwaan bahawa bon tender Konsortium George Kent benar-benar telah dipulangkan untuk mengelakkan pelbagai spekulasi baru.

Rafizi sebelum ini mendakwa projek itu sepatutnya diberikan kepada Balfour Beatty-Invensys Consortium (Balfour) tetapi atas campur tangan Najib, ia jatuh ke tangan George Kent.- malaysiakini

 Rafizi turns up heat on Najib over LRT contract...

PKR is pressing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to disclose whether the RM1 billion Ampang Light Rail Transit (LRT) project has really been awarded to Konsortium George Kent, a day after he denied impropriety in the deal.

Zeroing in on the premier's reply yesterday that "everything was done properly", PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the statement did not answer whether the purported highest bidder had won the contract or not.

"This reinforces the speculation that Najib had forcefully interfered in the bid evaluation decision, which was in favour of other bidders," he said in a statement today.

According to Rafizi (left), the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) took away many official documents pertaining to the contract when they paid a visit to Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd's (Prasarana) office yesterday.

Quoting an insider, he claimed one of the papers proved that Prasarana has returned Konsortium George Kent its tender bond, a form of cash deposits each bidder pays, as the company was disqualified in the early stages.

"I urge Shahril Mokhtar, Prasarana group managing director, to confirm whether the cash deposit has been returned to stem new speculation," he said.

Yesterday Najib had said there was nothing abnormal in the award of the RM1 billion Ampang Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension project to the purported highest bidder when quizzed by journalists on the allegations.

Rafizi had accused the prime minister of interfering in the award process to ensure that a consortium led by George Kent Bhd, said to have put in the highest bid, will land the job.

He claimed that he had "solid" evidence that the project was first went to Balfour Beatty-Invensys Consortium (Balfour).

However, a Jan 22 Business Times report said that George Kent was tipped to win the bid, said Rafizi, drawing the conclusion that the move had been executed on Najib's orders.

Rafizi has vowed to reveal more evidence of wrongdoing on the matter in the coming weeks.- malaysiakini

PM never denied George Kent got LRT project

The prime minister did not deny that the Finance Ministry awarded the Ampang LRT extension project to George Kent Consortium, said PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli.

Responding to Najib Tun Razak’s statement that the tender process was done properly, he said: “The statement confirms speculation that the premier had a hand in awarding the project to George Kent.”

Yesterday, Rafizi lodged a police report over Najib’s decision to award the Ampang LRT extension project to George Kent instead of another company which had won the bid earlier.

“Najib’s decision may involve corruption and jeopardises public safety as the project was awarded to a company with no expertise in LRT projects,” Rafizi had said.

However, Najib denied having a hand in the decision and insisted that the process was “done properly”.

Rafizi said he was informed that MACC had started a probe on the tender issue by getting information from the original winner for the bid, Prasarana Group.

“Among the documents inspected by MACC is the tender bond, initially issued to Prasarana as the winning bidder but later given to George Kent,” he claimed.

Rafizi said that he would expose further details on Najib’s alleged hand in awarding the project to George Kent Consortium next week.

“I will reveal the technical and financial aspects which will prove Najib’s involvement,” he said.- FMT

Gov't's LRT broken promise a letdown for TI-M

Transparency International's Malaysia chapter (TI-M) is disappointed that the Integrity Pact played no role in the Ampang Line LRT extension project tender exercise.

In addition, TI-M president Paul Low Seng Kuan said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's alleged interference in selecting the successful bidder would undermine bidders' confidence in future projects.

"This is because people who (participate) in the tender may not be competing on a level playing field and their effort of submitting tenders may not be evaluated in a truly professional and objective manner," he told Malaysiakini when contacted yesterday.

He added that the research and manpower involved in submitting a bid may come to around RM 500,000.

Showing the purported minutes of the Finance Ministry's Procurement Committee(JPMK), PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli  meeting had claimed on Wednesday that the committee had originally selected Balfour Beatty-Invensys Consortium for the RM1 billion project.

However, the contract was eventually awarded to a consortium led by George Kent Bhd, whose bid was apparently higher than the others.

However, the company has no experience in rail projects, Rafizi blamed this on Najib's interference.
Paul Low said the government needs to be consistent with its calls for transparency and open tender.

He said it needs to clarify the issue and explain to taxpayers, "why the government needs to pay a higher price for an award that is given to a less-qualified company... to prevent public suspicion and the public has the right to know."

Low also said that although the government had said it would use Integrity Pacts advocated by TI-M in its tenders, this was absent in the Ampang Line LRT extension project.

An Integrity Pact is a legally-binding agreement, including a commitment not so solicit or pay bribes.

"If they had used the Integrity Pact, it would have provided some safeguards," he said.- malaysiakini

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