KUALA LUMPUR – The Health Ministry will take a more decisive and efficient approach to its procurement process following the damning report released by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said her ministry has taken note of the PAC’s recommendations, especially those related to procurement processes.
“I’m confident that we will take a more decisive and efficient approach to adhering to procurement processes even when the country is put under emergency (order),” she said in a press conference at Parliament today.
“The ministry has given full cooperation during the PAC proceedings, providing answers and the requested information.”
According to the PAC report released on Monday, there were conflicting testimonies from the Health Ministry and Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd (PLSB) on warranties for 136 ventilators purchased by the latter for the ministry during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Inconsistent information from the ministry and PLSB led to PAC being unable to verify the existence of a warranty for all the ventilators, PAC noted in its report on the government’s Covid-19 outbreak management.
Also, of the 136 procured, 104 were inoperable, and PAC found that no party could be held accountable because there was no written agreement between the Health Ministry and PLSB on the procurement.
PLSB is a fully owned subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pharmaniaga Bhd, a government-linked company.
Meanwhile, then transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, at the time of the procurement, is also named in the PAC report as the figure who aided the procurement of the ventilators from China.
He is on record saying during proceedings on September 21 that the Health Ministry should not be blamed for troubles with the faulty ventilators, as the situation during the pandemic was dire, with public hospitals borrowing ventilators from private hospitals.
He denied any knowledge of defects in the ventilators, stressing that his part in the process was merely to help the Health Ministry find a supplier and provide logistical aid.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, who is also special adviser to Zaliha, said those responsible for procuring unusable ventilators without a purchase agreement should be identified and held accountable.
Zaliha was only appointed health minister on December 3, 2022. Datuk Seri Adham Baba helmed the ministry between March 10, 2020, and August 16, 2021, while Khairy Jamaluddin took over until November 24, 2022. – November 2, 2023
