KUALA LUMPUR — Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has again chastised the government over its Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS) which will cost RM3.22 billion or double the initial cost, under a renewed six-year contract.
PAC in its latest report on its inquiry into the FWCMS, which is managed by controversial firm Bestinet Sdn Bhd, said the renewed agreement, is “too favourable to the company”.
“PAC is very disappointed over the agreement which was previously said to be of ‘no cost to the Government’ which was why the government said it agreed (to renew the contract) for six years.
“PAC is of the view that although the company’s initial cost of RM1.572 billion was dropped, but based on PAC’s rough calculation, the total charge of RM215 (multiplied by 2.5 million foreign workers) for a period of six years, the company will receive an estimated minimum of RM3.2 billion.
“This is two times the amount of the company’s original claim,” the committee said in its report released today.
The RM215 is the collection fee for each issuance of an ePASS for foreign workers under the renewed contract, signed in September.
“This charge will be paid by the Government to Bestinet. PAC sees this agreed amount as too high compared to the amount in the original letter of agreement (SST) which is RM100.
“It is also higher than the amount that has been approved by UKAS (Public-Private Partnership Unit) which is RM86,” PAC added.
The committee also said the renewed contract for six years “is too long” since the FWCMS had already been in use for six years previously.
In a press statement, PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said following these findings, the committee will hold another inquiry into the Home Ministry’s decision to renew its contract with Bestinet.
It will call, among others, the ministry’s Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, who chairs the FWCMS main committee, as well as the Attorney-General, the Treasury Chief Secretary, and the secretaries-general of the Home and Human Resources ministries.
“The testimony and explanations from the FWCMS main committee is important for PAC to justify the Government’s decision to sign the FWCMS System agreement contract with Bestinet,” Mas Ermieyati said.
In June, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that the Cabinet had agreed in principle to renewing Bestinet’s contract to run the FWCMS, a migrant labour requirement management system, under renegotiated terms.
In July, following its inquiry into Bestinet and FWCMS since the beginning of this year, PAC found that the system had been in use from 2018 until March this year without a signed contract.
PAC had asked the Home Ministry to decide the future direction of using the FWCMS, as the ministry had also developed its own comprehensive system called the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) which was supposed to integrate the FWCMS.
PAC held additional inquiry sessions in August, September and earlier this month, leading to its report released today.
It recommended that the Home Ministry ensure its procurement and contract decisions are in line with existing polices and regulations, and that the ministry immediately correct confusion that has arisen during its procurement processes.
PAC also wants the Home and Human Resources ministries to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the management of foreign workers, rather than to focus on development systems.
“Both Ministries need to ensure that there is no more duplication of the functions of the developed system resulting in a waste of public money,” PAC said. – November 21, 2024
