KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will commence proceedings on three new issues, including on the land swap carried out under the Defence Ministry from 2012 to 2018, said its chairman Wong Kah Woh.
He said the other two issues are on the implementation of the Automatic EnforcemenCopyt System (AES) from 2012 to 2018 under the Transport Ministry and the 1BestariNet System Service project from 2011 to 2019 under the Education Ministry.
The issues were submitted by the Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigation Committee (JKSTUPKK), he said, adding that PAC had been briefed on the matter by the committee chairman, Tan Sri Ambrin Buang, who is also former Auditor-General, last Monday.
“The Parliament’s PAC opines there is merit in these three issues,” he told a press conference at the Parliament Building here, today
Wong said JKSTUPKK had conducted investigation into 16 land swaps involving 2,923 acres of government land worth RM4.8 billion, a method practised by the Defence Ministry to procure facility development through the exchange of government land with the private sector.
“The PAC has been informed that among issues in the implementation of the land swap are related to government losses as a result of inconsistency in methods used to determine the value of land and political considerations outweighing defence matters,” said Wong.
On the AES, he said JKSTUPKK investigated the rationale behind Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera’s (LTAT) investment of RM555 million in the acquisition of the AES company although the original investment by the company was only RM40 million.
As for 1BestariNet project, implemented for eight years at a cost of RM2.71, to equip 10,000 schools with 4G Internet access, Wong said JKSTUPKK found weaknesses and negligence in the implementation , resulting in the objective of the project not achieved.
Wong said the Parliament’s s PAC will begin proceedings on the Defence Ministry’s land swap first by calling the Defence Ministry secretary-general to record his statement this Nov 30.
“After that, PAC will decide whether to call other witnesses, “ he added. — Bernama
